Session:

SOE - Self-Organization on Representations for Genetic and Evolutionary Algorithms

Title:

Toward a New Theoretical Framework for Biology

Authors:

Tim Otter

Abstract:

To help us understand the nature of information processing in living systems, biology needs a new theoretical framework that is amenable to computational approaches. Recent progress in cell and molecular biology has made it clear that the “central dogma” (DNA à RNA à protein) is an overly simplistic concept. The goals of this paper are: 1) to specify which aspects of the central dogma are useful and valid while identifying what is missing, inaccurate or misleading, and 2) to suggest a strategy for designing computational approaches that consider the hierarchical organization of living systems and that place the central dogma in the context of living cells.