DNA as software: DNA is binary just like the base language in computers
Ok, heres’s another thing that amazed me when I found it out. I probably learnt it years agon cos I just checked http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DNA and found it called complementary base pairing which rings a bell to me. Going back over it I see that it’s effectively a binary code. Just like the code that runs in computers.
What’s the point then? Well, it’s just this. It is fascinating that the very code that runs computers defines 1’s and 0s, and so does the very code that runs all species we know. That seems amazing.
Taking it further, the code that a programmer writes has a similar impact on the program its written for as DNA does for its host cell. Object-oriented code, for example, works in a similar way to how proteins are made in a cell.
As a programmer, I like writing object-oriented code. That is code that describes objects, so if I wrote a program for a human, I would write a class for a cell. I’d describe how the cell functions and what things it can do, etc., and then I’d describe lots of different kinds of cells. They’d have the same fundamental attributes as the basic cell class, but they’d be slightly different. A blood cell wouldn’t have a nucleus (no DNA), a young cell would be able to grow and change easily (say an osteoblast), and an older cell wouldn’t (an osteoclast). So, the act of writing software teaches me a lot about DNA and genetics.
So, how does DNA work? Well, it codes for proteins. Proteins make enzymes. Proteins are buidling blocks like the keratin in your nails and hair, they build cell walls. Enzymes are workers. The lactase in your stomach breaks down the milk sugar lactose. Some people don’t have this enzyme, their DNA doesn’t describe how to make it so they’re lactose intolerant and can’t have dairy products.
It is fascinating that the code for our bodies can be talked about in terms similar to the code I use to write computer programs. Who’d have thought it?
Of course, I’m not the only one who has this idea. Epigenetics is now considering DNA as a script not a template
