The trapped scientist examples are great for conceptual purposes, but
these examples do not accurately model how information in life changes because they do not
take into account the fact that amino acid changes are caused by changes in DNA. This
chapter will explore how DNA stores information, and how this information is used to build
proteins. It will also explore how mutations change this information.
The language that life uses to store and transmit information is
similar to human languages, but the rules of grammar and the vocabulary are much simpler.
Only 20 words are used by life, so the vocabulary is very limited. Punctuation is limited
to capitalization and periods. Every sentence must start with the same word.
This chapter will start with a simple system based on coin tosses and
show how coin tosses can be used to store and transmit information. This simple example
will then be improved by using a four sided coin. The trapped scientist will then be used
with a new set of rules to show how information changes in life.
The goal of this chapter is to show that information theory is
applicable to biology as it can be used to model both information transfer and storage in
living things. Information theory can establish the information in both DNA and proteins,
and describe how the information is transfered from DNA to proteins through the processes
of transcription and translation.
next: transcription and translation
home: Intelligent Design & the Origin of
Life
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