In the spring of 2011, a diverse group of scientists gathered at
Cornell University to discuss their research into the nature and
origin of biological information. This symposium brought together
experts in information theory, computer science, numerical
simulation, thermodynamics, evolutionary theory, whole organism
biology, developmental biology, molecular biology, genetics,
physics, biophysics, mathematics, and linguistics. This volume
presents new research by those invited to speak at the
conference.
The contributors to this volume use their wide-ranging expertise in
the area of biological information to bring fresh insights into the
explanatory difficulties that biological information raises. Going
beyond the conventional scientific wisdom, which attempts to
explain biological information reductionistically via chemical,
genetic, and natural selective determinants, the work represented
here develops novel non-reductionist approaches to biological
information, looking notably to telic and self-organizational
processes.
Several clear themes emerged from these research papers: 1)
Information is indispensable to our understanding of what life is.
2) Biological information is more than the material structures that
embody it. 3) Conventional chemical and evolutionary mechanisms
seem insufficient to fully explain the labyrinth of information
that is life. By exploring new perspectives on biological
information, this volume seeks to expand, encourage, and enrich
research on the nature and origin of biological information.
Prof. Michael J. Behe (Foto re.) ist seit 1985 Professor für Biochemie an der Lehigh-Universität. Er studierte ferner Chemie an der Drexel University in Philadelphia, wo er 1974 mit einem Bachelor of Science abschloss. 1978 promovierte er an der University of Pennsylvania in Biochemie mit einer Forschungsarbeit über Sichelzellenanämie. 1978 - 1982 arbeitete er an den National Institutes of Health über die Struktur der DNA. Von 1982 - 1985 war er Assistenzprofessor für Chemie am Queens College in New York City.
Inhaltsangabe
Dynamics of Charged Particulate Systems.- Biological Information and Genetic Theory.- Theoretical Molecular Biology.- Biological Information and Self-Organizational Complexity Theory.
