INFORMATION THEORY, EVOLUTION, AND THE ORIGIN OF LIFE

By O. LIANA

CONTENTS 1 THE GENETIC INFORMATION SYSTEM 2 JAMES WATSON, FRANCIS CRICK, GEORGE GAMOW, AND THE GENETIC CODE 3 THE CENTRAL DOGMA OF MOLECULAR BIOLOGY 4 THE MEASURE OF THE INFORMATION CONTENT IN THE GENETIC MESSAGE 5 COMMUNICATION OF INFORMATION FROM THE GENOME TO THE PROTEOME 6 THE INFORMATION CONTENT OR COMPLEXITY OF PROTEIN FAMILIES 7 EVOLUTION OF THE GENETIC CODE AND ITS MODERN CHARACTERISTICS 8 HAECKEL’S URSCHLEIM AND THE ROLE OF THE CENTRAL DOGMA IN THE ORIGIN OF LIFE 9 PHILOSOPHICAL APPROACHES TO THE ORIGIN OF LIFE 10 THE ERROR CATASTROPHE AND THE HYPERCYCLES OF EIGEN AND SCHUSTER 11 RANDOMNESS, COMPLEXITY, THE UNKNOWABLE, AND THE IMPOSSIBLE 12 DOES EVOLUTION NEED AN INTELLIGENT DESIGNER? 13 EPILOGUE