[appleflaxen]

the fact is that the connections and knowledge about the proteins are probably enough. consider: when something as complicated as a human brain is completely disrupted (with severe hypothermia, general anesthesia, a strong seizure) the "stuff" of their intellectual identity is preserved if the insult is removed. Therefore, it's extremely accurate to say that "we have everything we need" if the structure and protein expression within that structure is known.