Title :
Two operative concepts for the post-genomic era: the "memoire vive" of the cell and a molecular algebra
Author :
Bentolila, Simone
Author_Institution :
IGM, Univ. Marne la Vallee, France
Abstract :
The first successes in cloning experiments and stem cell "reprogramming" have already demonstrated the primordial role of cellular working-space memory and regulatory mechanisms, which use the knowledge stored in the DNA database in read mode. We present an analogy between living systems and informatics systems by considering: 1) the cell cytoplasm as a memory device accessible as read/write; 2) the mechanisms of regulation as a programming language defined by a grammar, a molecular algebra; 3) biological processes as volatile programs which are executed without being written; 4) DNA as a database in read only mode. We also present applications to two biological algorithms: the immune response and glycogen metabolism.
Keywords :
biochemistry; biocomputing; biocybernetics; cellular biophysics; genetic algorithms; genetics; living systems; molecular biophysics; organic compounds; physiological models; DNA database; biological algorithms; biological processes; cell cytoplasm; cellular working-space memory primordial role; cloning experiments; glycogen metabolism; grammar; immune response; informatics systems; living systems; memoire vive; memory device; molecular algebra; post-genomic era; programming language; read mode; regulatory mechanisms; stem cell reprogramming; volatile programs; write mode; Algebra; Biological processes; Cells (biology); Cloning; Computer languages; DNA; Databases; Informatics; Read-write memory; Stem cells;
Conference_Titel :
Bioinformatics Conference, 2003. CSB 2003. Proceedings of the 2003 IEEE
Print_ISBN :
0-7695-2000-6
DOI :
10.1109/CSB.2003.1227310