The Two Languages of Biology
- Contributor(s):
- The Wellcome Library for the History and Understanding of Medicine. Francis Harry Compton Crick Papers Crick, Francis, 1916-2004
- Publication:
- Produced: [1969?]
- Language(s):
- English
- Format:
- Text
- Subject(s):
- Genetic Code
- Genre(s):
- Archival Materials Lecture notes
- Abstract:
- Crick delivered this lecture, originally entitled "The Linear Languages of Biology," on October 29, 1969, as part of the Cambridge Philosophical Society's sesquicentenary celebrations. On the same evening, his fellow Cambridge Nobel Laureates John Kendrew and Max Perutz also gave lectures.. Crick here articulated the view of the genome as an information system, a linguistic text written in DNA code, with its own syntax and grammar, to be read and edited by scientists. This view had come to prevail among molecular biologists during the 1950s, the beginning of what was later called the information age. The metaphor of the genome as a script has guided their theories and experimental practices ever since.
- Copyright:
- This item may be under copyright protection; contact the copyright owner for permission before re-use.
- Extent:
- 8 pages
- NLM Unique ID:
- 101584582X41 (See in Profiles in Science)
- Profiles in Science ID:
- SCBBDN
- Permanent Link:
- http://resource.nlm.nih.gov/101584582X41
- Archival Collection:
- The Francis Crick Papers (Profiles in Science)