It is hard to turn on the television at the moment without being
informed about developments in human genetic research. Why have we
heard so little about this in computing circles? Have we become so
obsessed with Microsoft's monopoly that nature's most successful
piece of software has escaped our attention?
To begin with, a few facts and figures may serve to whet the
appetite. The human genome (your DNA) is composed of one billion
words, known as codons. Each codon is composed of three letters,
called bases. There are four types of base (A, C, T and G). So your
complete genome is about 1.5Gbytes of information, or about two
CD-Roms worth.
Matt Ridley, in his book Genome, makes much of how large DNA is in
terms of information. What amazes me is how small it is. Even more
amazing is the fact that 97% of the genome is considered to be
"junk DNA" with no useful purpose. So your entire code will
comfortably fit on one track of your favourite CD.
This is all well and good, but what does it have to do with
computing?
It strikes me we have much to learn. Many millions of years of
evolution will certainly have devised a few techniques we can
exploit in our computer systems. I am not talking about "genetic
algorithms" here, but about working with biologists to reverse
engineer how DNA actually works as a piece of software.
Without doubt many of the greatest breakthroughs in science are
made when differing fields of research come together. My advice to
any budding computer scientists out there is to track down a
friendly biologist. Together you may show us all a trick or
two.
Ed Darnell, a former IT director, may now be found at
www.ITmentoring.co.uk