Genetic coding – whereby DNA sequences specify “information” that can guide the sequencing of amino acids in protein chains – is, quite simply, awe-inspiring. Layers of causality. Visualize, first, how the complexity of human development and cellular activity (from muscular contraction to neural net memory) arises from a mere 25,000 or so proteins, each one functionally based on a unique sculptural shape. Then consider that the diversity of those molecular geographies is based on just a handful – roughly two dozen – basic components: the amino acids. Furthermore, the specification and sequencing of those components are correlated with the arrangement of just four basic units, the familiar nucleotides of DNA. Amazing! Perhaps, just as amazing as an evolved primate writing several dozen Shakespearean plays with just a few dozen alphabetic shapes?
The complexity is formidable. However, at the same time, the arrangement seems extraordinarily fragile. What if the rules for...
University of California Press