Wetware : a computer in every living cell / Dennis Bray.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Bray, Dennis.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Cytology.

Cell interaction.

Molecular biology.

Computational biology.

Physical Description:

xii, 267 p.

Edition:

1st ed.

Place of Publication:

New Haven : Yale University Press, c2009.

Language Note:

English

Summary:

How does a single-cell creature, such as an amoeba, lead such a sophisticated life? How does it hunt living prey, respond to lights, sounds, and smells, and display complex sequences of movements without the benefit of a nervous system? This book offers a startling and original answer.In clear, jargon-free language, Dennis Bray taps the findings of the new discipline of systems biology to show that the internal chemistry of living cells is a form of computation. Cells are built out of molecular circuits that perform logical operations, as electronic devices do, but with unique properties. Bray argues that the computational juice of cells provides the basis of all the distinctive properties of living systems: it allows organisms to embody in their internal structure an image of the world, and this accounts for their adaptability, responsiveness, and intelligence.In Wetware, Bray offers imaginative, wide-ranging and perceptive critiques of robotics and complexity theory, as well as many entertaining and telling anecdotes. For the general reader, the practicing scientist, and all others with an interest in the nature of life, the book is an exciting portal to some of biology's latest discoveries and ideas.

Contents:

Clever cells

Simulated life

Protein switches

Protein signals

Cell wiring

Neural nets

Cell awareness

Molecular morphing

Cells together

Genetic circuits

Robots

The juice

Amoeba redux.

Notes:

Bibliographic Level Mode of Issuance: Monograph

Includes bibliographical references (p. 251-258) and index.

ISBN:

9780300155440

0300155441

OCLC:

808346519