5 ms·
DNA: file.c polymerase: gcc (transcribes DNA→RNA) RNA: file.o file.m file (the last one is mRNA) ribosome: ./file (tra
by tetris11 3y ago
DNA: file.c
polymerase: gcc (transcribes DNA→RNA)
RNA: file.o file.m file
(the last one is mRNA)
ribosome: ./file (translates mRNA→Protein)
protein: (program in RAM)
epigenome: (program in RAM changes file.c)
RNA world: (different file.o's messing with
each other by some unknown program,
eventually giving rise to stable
file.c files)
- willis936 3y agoHas anyone written a simulator in this style? You'd want to sandbox it so it doesn't get flagged as a virus, but it might be fun.
- tetris11 3y agoIn a sense, the historic development of GCC[1] is similar to this, relying on the previous version of GCC to compile the newer, whilst making modifications to the parser to allow the new symbols to parse. 1: "Trusting Trust" by Ken Thompson https://users.ece.cmu.edu/~ganger/712.fall02/papers/p761-thompson.pdf https://users.ece.cmu.edu/~ganger/712.fall02/papers/p761-tho...
- willis936 3y agoYes but always human in the loop. I mean a self replicating, source modifying program.
- fxj 3y agoisnt it more like: RNA: asm text file Protein: compiled binary also: t-RNA is a hybrid of RNA and amino acids, which is like a hash table
- Faaak 3y agoAFAIK, it's even "worse" as ribosomes are made of RNA (rRNA). and amino acids are linked to small RNA (tRNA) in when translating the (coding) RNA. RNA is the start of everything (see: RNA world)
- acchow 3y ago“Von Neumann Architecture”
- getoffmycase 3y agoIf I had a nickel for every terrible biology to computer processes analogy I saw on this website since joining, I’d probably have enough money to buy a beer. Which is what I feel I need after I see something like this. Biology does not act like a computer. You cannot reduce biology to an operating system
- TeMPOraL 3y ago> Biology does not act like a computer. You cannot reduce biology to an operating system Nobody is doing that. Analogies are drawing rough outlines in the thought-space[0], they aren't a definition. As such, they are helpful. -- [0] - Or latent space, if I want to make an analogy inside the analogy apologia.
- deleted 3y ago[deleted]
- fabian2k 3y agoI don't think the programming analogies are helpful here, they seem to cause a serious amount of confusion. The basic idea isn't so bad, but too many people seem to try and push them much, much further than they can work. For a developer this analogy also implies a lot of assumptions that they know to be true for code that are simply wrong for biology.
- theGnuMe 3y agoOne can view the cell as an information processing entity. If we agree with that view then it can be analyzed as an abstract computational process. If you are upset about using the word 'computational' then consider it to be a dynamical process. We can then use mathematics to analyze this system. In any event, genes (programming instructions) encode proteins (applications) that run in the cell (operating system). Now biology is weird and has multiple feedback steps, some of which we probably do not even know yet, but the basic approach is solid.
- 3y ago
- _yb2s 3y agoThis analogy is workable, but I would make some changes. For example, epigenetics don’t change file.c, but how readily the rest of the process interacts with it. The ribosome produces file, but isn’t the file itself, whereas in some of your other entries the bio part is analogous to the computer part.
- theGnuMe 3y agoNice, it's amazing how the analogy matches up so well.