ABSTRACT
DNA is a macromolecule made up of two strands of nucleotides. DNA contains the information to build proteins, which represent the most important functional elements of cells. The construction of a protein begins with the “transcription” of DNA into messenger RNA (mRNA). The next step consists in the “translation” of messenger RNA, through ribosomes (complex macromolecules) and transfer RNA (tRNA), into proteins. The genetic code constitutes the set of rules by which each triplet of the nucleotides (codon) encode for each specific amino acid. In the synthesis of proteins, the amino acids are first selected and then attached to each other (through peptide bonds) in order to form the primary structure of the proteins. After building the amino acid chain (primary structure) the proteins take on a three-dimensional shape (tertiary or quaternary structure) that is responsible for their function as enzymes, ion channels, hormones, structural elements etc. The symbolic nature of genetic information is due to the fact that a triplet of nucleotides (DNA) encodes a specific amino acid, just like a string of phonemes encodes a word. RNA, DNA and the genetic code constitute the most important, the oldest and the most general (universal) symbolic structures. Orienting philosophy from a biological paradigm means placing the characteristics of living organisms in the foreground – that is, the symbolic nature of genetic information, complexity, existence, uncertainty, the irreversibility of time, the interior dimension (characterized by order) versus the external one (characterized by greater disorder).
