4 ms·

is dna hardware? software? it's both! it's neither! oh, and it's also the runtime!

• mcv 4y ago
  Evolution isn't very good at separating its concerns.
  • promptdaddy 4y ago
    In which context?
• borissk 4y ago
  The DNA code is software, the hardware and the runtime are RNA and proteins.
  • jhbadger 4y ago
    But those are encoded by the DNA as well. That isn't how software works (which runs on hardware that exists independently of it) I suppose you could argue that it is similar to a FPGA, where entire CPUs can be created in software, but even there there is still underlying hardware that can't be modified by software.
  • TeMPOraL 4y ago
    DNA exists physically, and the way the software "runs" is not just dependent on the abstract genetic code, but also the particular way it gets folded in 3D space. In this sense, DNA is both software and hardware. Arguably a lot of things at the cellular level defy the distinction between code, data, hardware and runtime.
• ramraj07 4y ago
  It’s basically an ASIC.
  • deleted 4y ago
    [deleted]