[avaldes]

> I can't help but suspect that a lot of the genome is a part of the boot sequence that helps you go from one cell up to all the differentiated organs and tissues and systems.

Boot sequence. Amazing. I've always been interested in how the DNA transcription looks like a Turing machine with the RNAP being the head and the one DNA strand being the tape. Is there any research in that kind of computational analogy or is it just a coincidence?

[RosanaAnaDana]

I mean, it could be except that the tape in this case has 3D structure and can change shape (and thereby expression) depending on histone modification. So its close to a good analogy, but in some ways DNA is more interesting and complex than a reel to reel tape.

[Kim_Bruning]

Turing did actually make a significant contribution to biology, but unfortunately he died right around the time the structure of DNA was discovered. Can you imagine what might have been?

https://www.dna.caltech.edu/courses/cs191/paperscs191/turing...

[dekhn]

There are many similarities between information processing in biology and information processing in computing, but the analogies only stretch so far. It's worth reading the basic textbooks in this area to get an idea of what mainstream science currently thinks; speculating too far outside the mainstream is a guarantee you will never be successful.