Over the past several decades, biology has been undergoing a quiet revolution. As the molecular mechanisms in between the notion of an organism’s “genetic blueprint” and the organism itself have come ever more into focus, it has become increasingly clear that the blueprint metaphor is the wrong one anyway. We are not mere readouts of some genetically encoded instructions. Rather, every level of the biological hierarchy, from genes to proteins to cells and tissues, has its own set of operational rules, and there is a constant flow of information between all the levels. In this talk Philip Ball will discuss this new view of life, which appears to be more dynamic, adaptive, and innovative than the old view of a DNA-based program implies. The new picture reveals that life is better understood not through metaphors of machines or computation but as a question about agency.
How Life Works: The New Biology – Sidmouth Science Festival
Booking not required. £2.50 entrance which includes refreshments.
