Cell Language Theory, The: Connecting Mind And Matter

250 The Cell Language Theory: Connecting Mind and Matter

b2861 The Cell Language Theory: Connecting Mind and Matter “6x9”

unique assignment shown in the genetic code table of the vertebrate mito-

chondria (see the bottom panel of Table 5.2) is just one of these possible

arrangements. Using the simplified version of the Shannon formula, we

can estimate that the information content of the genetic code of the verte-

brate mitochondria is log 2 (10^83 ) which is about 276 bits as already men-

tioned. This means that a vertebrate mitochondrion is endowed with the

ability to make maximally about 276 binary decisions during transcription

and translation. It is relatively easy to show that such an enormous capa-

bility of a mitochondrion cannot have arisen through random processes

but must have been “selected” via some physicochemical (or other as-yet-

unknown) processes which we call the biological evolution.

It is interesting to note that the maximum amount of the Shannon

information associated with the vertebrate mitochondrial code calculated

here, i.e., 276 bits, is comparable with the Shannon information associ-

ated with arranging the 64 codons into an 8 × 8 matrix, i.e., log 2 (64!) =

295 bits as calculated in Section 5.1, which demonstrates that the DNA

nucleotriplets have a sufficient information storage capacity to transmit

the genetic information from DNA to proteins.

The fact that the four DNA bases can be linked to the 64 genetic

codons via the mathematics of matrices strongly suggests that the molecu-

lar mechanisms underlying transcription and translation catalyzed by

enzymes are based on the resonating oscillatory motions among DNA,

RNA, and enzymes. Thus, the results of Petoukhov’s research over the last

decade or so provides the evidence suggesting that the biology of the

genetic code embodies the physics of resonances and the mathematics of

matrices. Thus, it may be justified to make the following generalizations:

It may be impossible to completely solve the mystery of the genetic

code without taking into account not only its biology but also its phys-

ics and mathematics. (5.11)

I here take the liberty of naming Statement (5.11) as the “Petoukhov

thesis” for future reference.

Prigogine divides all the structures in the Universe into two classes:

(i) equilibrium structures (also called equilibrons) and (ii) dissipative

structures (or dissipatons) (Section 2.6) [25, Section 3.1.5]. Equilibrons

can exist without using up free energy, but dissipatons disappear when

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