DNA information ≠ DNA molecule?
Recent studies in information theory have come up with some astounding conclusions—namely, that info cannot be considered in the same category as matter and energy.
Matter or energy can carry information, but they are not the same as information itself.
Is a physical book itself information? No, the materials of the book, the paper, ink and glue, contain the contents, but they are only a means of transporting it.
If the information in the book was spoken aloud, or electronically reproduced in a computer, the information does not suffer qualitatively from its means of transporting.
The content of the message is independent of the physical makeup of the medium.
The same principle is found in the genetic code. The DNA molecule carries the genetic language, but the language itself is independent of its carrier.
The same genetic information can be written in a book, stored in a compact disk or sent over the Internet, and yet the quality or content of the message has not changed by changing the means of conveyance.
The gene is a package of info, not an object. The DNA molecule’s pattern of base-twins specifies the gene. Thus, the DNA molecule is the medium, not the message.
