dissecting genetic code

We are naturally and very easily able to distinguish between the living and non-living entities of the world. A deeper question to ask though is what exactly causes this dichotomy of entities i.e. what is it exactly that makes a living entity living per se which is so distinctly different from the non-living? After all, from the point of view of chemistry and physics, the internal composition of both the living and non-living ultimately boils down to same basic atomic elements. The book ‘Fabric of Reality’ is a lovely read which beautifully explains the fundamental elements of science including the conception of biological life and how it is connected with the theory of computation. The defining element of biological life is what we know as genes. Genes are biological replicators which are molecules that can interact with certain environments by virtue of its molecular structure causing the environment to make copies of it similar to a computer virus which is an example of a non-biological replicator that can self-copy in certain digital environments. Genes by virtue of its molecular structure possesses certain information which decides the functions it can perform and whether or not the gene will be able to replicate itself in a certain environment. If we dig deeper into the constituents of genes, we get sequences of smaller molecules named adenine, cytosine, guanine and thymine abbreviated as A, C, G and T respectively. So, the information possessed by genes ultimately boils down to sequencing of A, T, C, G molecules with different sequences representing different messages responsible for enabling different biological functions. Genes are analogous to computer programs expressed as sequences of A, T, C, G symbols in a biological programming language called the genetic code. Information possessed in genes via genetic code is executed within special structures in living organisms which act as molecular computers (analogous to the compiler in a digital computer) that enables living organisms to perform complex biological functions to ensure its survival and reproduction. Larger and more complex combination of genes produces high level instructions or large-scale genetic code which when executed enable broader biological functions such as regulation of sugar in the bloodstream or enabling the copying of parent genes into the offspring so that the offspring possesses the necessary genetic code to perform their biological functions. A gene structure with a very minor variation in its inherent genetic code i.e. the sequence of A, T, C, G molecules can totally alter the information it embodies and be rendered useless thereby affecting the corresponding biological function that could have gotten executed by the gene prior to the alteration. Mutation is a phenomenon where the genetic code gets altered due to external interactions thereby altering the biological instructions it holds. The altered message could enable the living entity to replicate faster or perform a new biological function or even make it incapable of performing any function at all. The important conclusion from this analysis is that living entities are fundamentally an embodiment of useful information which comes a result of certain structured organization of molecules effectively allowing survival and replication of the living entities in order to consistently preserve the same useful information or even a modified version of it which can still enable the preservation process. If the knowledge embodied by the genetic code gets lost or significantly altered, it could harm the mechanism of information transfer such that it loses its ability to become self-preserving ultimately causing it to die and merge with the non-living which do not have a self-preserving information system. So, while living and non-living matter are constituted by more or less the same atomic elements, the distinction arises from which particular organization of atomic elements embodies useful knowledge that allows self-preservation, as living matter is in all essence knowledge-bearing matter which ultimately serves as a vehicle for the continuous evolution and propagation of knowledge across time.