Yes, but due to a few billion years of evolution, the interactions between the genome, the protein interaction networks, and RNA signalling make the prospect of writing code for life forms almost as bad as writing Windows Vista in BASIC, Java, and Lisp combined... I wish it was easier (I work in the computational biology field) but evolution doesn't comment its code very well.
DNA doesn't tell you the whole story. A developing zygote doesn't respond only to its own genetic makeup, but also to prepackaged mRNA signals from the parents, whose DNA differs from that of the zygote. The zygote's environment and packaging determines its phenotype as much as its own DNA does in the early stages of development. Viruses that convert RNA to DNA show that the messaging isn't one-way and that DNA can be reprogrammed on the fly. It is this adaptability that makes living things so adaptable and diverse. If DNA was merely a static instruction set, the diversity and complexity of life we see today wouldn't be possible.
Unfortunately its not that simple. The "central dogma" of DNA --> RNA --> Protein has been steadily added to over the past 20 years. Mechanisms such as RNAi have been added to a growing list of different regulatory levels, from transcription to translation, alternative splicing, to protein modifications, to chromatin density...etc. Discoveries like RNAi continually show us that our "programming language" is much more complex than feeding instructions on a paper tape.
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That should work well for the only time my laptop is closed: when its in my laptop bag....
Yes, but due to a few billion years of evolution, the interactions between the genome, the protein interaction networks, and RNA signalling make the prospect of writing code for life forms almost as bad as writing Windows Vista in BASIC, Java, and Lisp combined... I wish it was easier (I work in the computational biology field) but evolution doesn't comment its code very well.
DNA doesn't tell you the whole story. A developing zygote doesn't respond only to its own genetic makeup, but also to prepackaged mRNA signals from the parents, whose DNA differs from that of the zygote. The zygote's environment and packaging determines its phenotype as much as its own DNA does in the early stages of development. Viruses that convert RNA to DNA show that the messaging isn't one-way and that DNA can be reprogrammed on the fly. It is this adaptability that makes living things so adaptable and diverse. If DNA was merely a static instruction set, the diversity and complexity of life we see today wouldn't be possible.
Unfortunately its not that simple. The "central dogma" of DNA --> RNA --> Protein has been steadily added to over the past 20 years. Mechanisms such as RNAi have been added to a growing list of different regulatory levels, from transcription to translation, alternative splicing, to protein modifications, to chromatin density...etc. Discoveries like RNAi continually show us that our "programming language" is much more complex than feeding instructions on a paper tape.