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Does DNA have the equivalent of IF-statements, WHILE loops, or function calls?

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Re: Does DNA have the equivalent of IF-statements, WHILE loops, or function calls?

#181

Post by bmartin13 »

Daub wrote: post #22
visarga wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Evolution is a wonderful algorithm - open ended, and yet in a single run it created all life, including human culture and technology.

What I find fascinating about evolution is that it is entirely un-intentional. There is no-one/nothing directing it yet its outcome presents (and can be discussed as) a design.

How would you know if a higher dimensional being was directing it? We can't easily detect something outside our current physical dimensions.

We know that for our math to work there have to be a number of higher dimensions. I think it's more logical to believe this came from something instead of from nothing.

Re: Does DNA have the equivalent of IF-statements, WHILE loops, or function calls?

#182

Post by namaria »

Garlef wrote: post #26
visarga wrote: post #20

Well, DNA might not have programming structures, but it acts like a neural network. See "Gene regulatory network" > Some proteins though serve only to activate other genes, and these are the transcription factors that are the main players in regulatory networks or cascades. By binding to the promoter region at the start of other genes they turn them on, initiating the production of another protein, and so on. Some tr…

Before anyone jumps to esoteric conclusions: This is more likely a result of neural networks being very general: General in the sense that they are able to approximate/model a lot of dynamic systems that allow operadic composition.

Sure, nothing profound about trillion-strong fleets of self replicating nanobots controlled by chemical computers processing high dimension data about their environments with complex entanglements giving rise to specialized clusters of information processing neural masses, capable of then communicating with other similar entities, building knowledge about data processing and storage over millennia, starting with clay tablets and ending up with advanced machinery that can be used to create elaborate patterns of data flows that can help us peer through the universe, inside our bodies, understand in intricate detail everything that happens across billions of light years and over billions of years.

Nothing profound at all about any of that. Just very general structures.

Re: Does DNA have the equivalent of IF-statements, WHILE loops, or function calls?

#183

Post by stultissimus »

FLT8 wrote: post #178
stultissimus wrote: post #162

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Synthetic biologist here. This is a good answer, but looking at man-made genetic programs can give us a simplified perspective. We've made significant progress engineering programs that enable human T cells to kill target (cancer) cells _conditionally_ based on their surface marker expression [1]. This is in contrast to conventional CAR-T cells which are already on the market (see Kymriah, etc.). A simple AND gate T…

Sounds exciting, but also a little scary. I'm imagining a biological variant of eg. Verilog or VHDL, as this seems like the kind of domain where tools that allow for formal verification would be highly desirable.

This has actually been done for genetic circuits in E coli (bacteria) by Chris Voight's lab at MIT. Their platform is called Cello [1], and it enables interoperation between Verilog/HDL and genetic code. This kind of thing has not yet reached practical utility in human cell engineering, but companies like Asimov [2] are pushing hard in that direction

[1] https://www.cidarlab.org/cello

[2] https://www.asimov.com/

Re: Does DNA have the equivalent of IF-statements, WHILE loops, or function calls?

#184

Post by stultissimus »

mcnnowak wrote: post #169
stultissimus wrote: post #162

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Synthetic biologist here. This is a good answer, but looking at man-made genetic programs can give us a simplified perspective. We've made significant progress engineering programs that enable human T cells to kill target (cancer) cells _conditionally_ based on their surface marker expression [1]. This is in contrast to conventional CAR-T cells which are already on the market (see Kymriah, etc.). A simple AND gate T…

Any tips or "get your foot in the door" advice on how someone currently in a CS career, but interested in biology could make this career transition? As a simple CS-minded person, I don't see any LeetCode for synthetic biology sites :)

Reading life science textbooks and substacks is a great way to get started (see [1], [2]).

Also, there is a major deficit of software engineering talent in biology research (probably because pro SWEs are too expensive for academic labs, and those labs are where much of the foundational research is done). If you have the bandwidth, part time / volunteer work with an academic lab in your area could be a great way in the door.

[1] https://centuryofbio.com/

[2] https://substack.com/profile/11154869-niko-mccarty

Re: Does DNA have the equivalent of IF-statements, WHILE loops, or function calls?

#186

Post by Affric »

roughly wrote: post #129

Something to be aware of as a computer person coming into biology: Biology only _looks_ like it has logical constructs, abstraction layers, and general computational frameworks. When you start working with it, you'll find everything is messier than you expected and everything interacts with everything at every level. There are no abstractions, there are no actual boundaries, and your outputs are subject to evolutiona…

Biology being my first love I think what really leads non-biology based scientists, engineers, designers, artists, and people generallyastray is that they can’t liberate their mind from their top down all seeing perspective.

Teleological matter are the machines you get when the vast majority of the form cannot be designed.

Re: Does DNA have the equivalent of IF-statements, WHILE loops, or function calls?

#188

Post by mensetmanusman »

gumballindie wrote: post #121
CamperBob2 wrote: post #117

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You are intelligent. But we could get an equally-intelligent reply out of ChatGPT. Ergo, it's also intelligent.

Yeah no, that's bullshit. It's like saying my laptop emits sound, meaning it can sing.

ChatGPT is a type of intelligence just like a dog or a bird is a type of intelligence.

Re: Does DNA have the equivalent of IF-statements, WHILE loops, or function calls?

#190

Post by gumballindie »

mensetmanusman wrote: post #188
gumballindie wrote: post #121

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yeah no, that's bullshit. It's like saying my laptop emits sound, meaning it can sing.

ChatGPT is a type of intelligence just like a dog or a bird is a type of intelligence.

Yup, the world has gone mad. Flat earthers, anti-vaxxers, now ai intelligence believers.
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