What is life? The physicist who sparked a revolution in biology | Matthew Cobb
Reporter: Aviva Lev-Ari, PhD, RN
Matthew Cobb: Erwin Schrödinger introduced some of the most important concepts in biology, including the idea of a ‘code’ of life
Sourced through Scoop.it from: www.theguardian.com
This was the first clear suggestion that genes contained some kind of “code”, although Schrödinger’s meaning was apparently not exactly the same as ours – he did not suggest there was a correspondence between each part of the “code-script” and precise biochemical reactions.
Historians and scientists have argued over the influence of Schrödinger’s lectures and the book that followed, but there can be no doubt that some of the key figures of 20th century science – James Watson, Francis Crick, Maurice Wilkins and others – were inspired to turn to biology by the general thrust of Schrödinger’s work.
The role of the brilliant “code-script” insight is less clear. Reviewers of What is Life? in both Nature and the New York Times noted the novel phrase, but despite the fact that in 1944 Oswald Avery published clear evidence that DNA was the genetic material, virtually no one immediately began looking for – or even talking about – a molecular “code-script” in DNA, although Kurt Stern suggested that the code might involve grooves in a protein molecule, like the grooves in a vinyl disc.
SOURCE
https://www.theguardian.com/science/blog/2013/feb/07/wonders-life-physicist-revolution-biology
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