-------- Mensaje original --------
Fecha: Tue, 20 Sep 2011 15:32:45 -0500 (CDT)
De: [email protected]
Re: Chemical Information
There is also an aspect of chemical information that is relevant to
biologists more than chemists. As I proposed in my book on Meaningful
Information (Springer 2011), this can be defined as detected patterns of
matter or energy that have an effect on the detecting entity (i.e. cause
a change in either its structure, functioning or behavior). Chemical
information in this scheme of things consists of the spatial patterns of
certain molecules (ligands) that enable them to fit into
the3-dimensional structure of particular proteins, thereby causing the
latter to change their shape in a way that triggers a response in the
involved cell. The mechanism is highly selective, in that each protein
tends to bond only with a specific ligand and this alters its shape in a
way that activates a particular cellular response. Protein molecules
represent the main information detectors in biology, since they are
responsible for the way cells and organisms regulate their internal
environments and adapt to their external ones. The way these large
molecules are able to detect and respond to chemical informational
patterns is also the basis for the senses of taste and smell, as well as
the effects of hormones, pheromones, and neurotransmitters.
Anthony Reading
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