Biology Reference
In-Depth Information
formation and applies not only to the interactions among the components of a
soft-state transistor (Row 8) but also to the interactions among a set of soft-state
transistors needed to construct logical gates and processors (Rows 10 and 11).
In both intra- and inter-transistor interactions, solid-state transistors utilize
strong,
covalent bonds
(50 ~ 100 kcal/mol), whereas soft-state transistors depend
mainly on weak,
noncovalent bonds
(1-5 kcal/mol) (Row 8).
These weak interactions, coupled with the principle of structural complemen-
tarity, appear to be necessary and sufficient for the production, operation, and
destruction (after their task is completed) of self-organizing biological circuits of
soft-state transistors which then can be identified with hyperstructures and
5.
Logic
. The behavior of solid-state transistors are deterministic, obeying the
Aristotelian or binary logic of the excluded middle. The behavior of a soft-
because of its structural deformability and thermal fluctuations, giving rise to not
one but a range of rate constants per enzyme distributed nonrandomly (see the
histogram of waiting times in Fig.
11.24
) (Lu et al. 1998) (Row 12).
5.2 Computer Science
5.2.1 The Principle of Computational Equivalence
and a New Kind of Science (NKS)
This principle proposed by Dr. Stephen Wolfram in 2002 states that all rule-
governed processes, whether natural or artificial, can be viewed as
computations
.
According to Wolfram (2002), it is possible to model any complex structure or
phenomena in nature using simple computer programs (or algorithms) based on
cellular automata that can be applied
n
times repeatedly (or recursively), where
n
ranges from 10
3
to 10
6
. In other words, underlying all complex phenomena (includ-
ing living processes), there may exist surprisingly simple sets of rules, the repetitive
application of which inevitably leads to the complex phenomena or structures found
in living systems. The following set of quotations from his topic,
A New Kind of
Science
(Wolfram 2002), illustrate his ideas:
Three centuries ago science was transformed by the dramatic new idea that rules based on
mathematical equations could be used to describe the natural world. My purpose in this
topic is to initiate another such transformation, and to introduce a new kind of science that
is based on the much more general types of rules that can be embodied in simple computer
programs.
If theoretical science is to be possible at all, then at some level the systems it
studies must follow definite rules. Yet in the past throughout the exact science it has usually
been assumed that these rules must be ones based on traditional mathematics. But the
crucial realization that led me to develop the new kind of science in this topic is that there is
in fact no reason to think that systems like those we see in nature should follow only such
traditional mathematical rules [p. 1].
...
(5.1)
