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A genetic code Boolean structure. II. The genetic information system as a Boolean information system

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Abstract

A Boolean structure of the genetic code where Boolean deductions have biological and physicochemical meanings was discussed in a previous paper. Now, from these Boolean deductions we propose to define the value of amino acid information in order to consider the genetic information system as a communication system and to introduce the semantic content of information ignored by the conventional information theory. In this proposal, the value of amino acid information is proportional to the molecular weight of amino acids with a proportional constant of about 1.96×1025 bits per kg. In addition to this, for the experimental estimations of the minimum energy dissipation in genetic logic operations, we present two postulates: (1) the energy E i (i = 1, 2, ..., 20) of amino acids in the messages conveyed by proteins is proportional to the value of information, and (2) amino acids are distributed according to their energy E i so the amino acid population in proteins follows a Boltzmann distribution. Specifically, in the genetic message carried by the DNA from the genomes of living organisms, we found that the minimum energy dissipation in genetic logic operations was close to kTLn(2) joules per bit.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Biotechnology Group, Research Institute of Tropical Roots, Tuber Crops and Banana (INIVIT), Santo Domingo, Villa Clara, Cuba

    Robersy Sanchez

  2. Center of Studies on Informatics, Central University of Las Villas, Villa Clara, Cuba

    Ricardo Grau

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  1. Robersy Sanchez
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  2. Ricardo Grau
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Correspondence to Robersy Sanchez.

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Sanchez, R., Grau, R. A genetic code Boolean structure. II. The genetic information system as a Boolean information system. Bull. Math. Biol. 67, 1017–1029 (2005). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bulm.2004.12.004

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bulm.2004.12.004

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