DNA info ≠ DNA molecule?
Is DNA information the same as a DNA molecule ?
Recent studies in information theory have come up with some astounding conclusions—namely, that information cannot be considered in the same category as matter and energy.
Matter or energy can carry information, but they are not the same as information itself.
Is a physical book itself information? No, the materials of the book, the paper, ink and glue, contain the contents, but they are only a means of transporting it.
If the information in the book was spoken aloud, or electronically reproduced in a computer, the information does not suffer qualitatively from the means of transporting it.
The content of the message is independent of the physical makeup of the medium.
The same principle is found in the genetic code. The DNA molecule carries the genetic language, but the language itself is independent of its carrier.
The same genetic information can be written in a book, stored in a compact disk or sent over the Internet, and yet the quality or content of the message has not changed by changing the means of conveyance.
The gene is a package of information, not an object. The pattern of base-twins in a DNA molecule specifies the gene. But the DNA molecule is the medium, it\’s not the message.
