Causality, Information and Biological Computation: An algorithmic software approach to life, disease and the immune system

Biology has taken strong steps towards becoming a computer science aiming at reprogramming nature after the realisation that nature herself has reprogrammed organisms by harnessing the power of natural selection and the digital prescriptive nature of replicating DNA. Here we further unpack ideas related to computability, algorithmic information theory and software engineering, in the context of the extent to which biology can be (re)programmed, and with how we may go about doing so in a more systematic way with all the tools and concepts offered by theoretical computer science in a translation exercise from computing to molecular biology and back. These concepts provide a means to a hierarchical organization thereby blurring previously clear-cut lines between concepts like matter and life, or between tumour types that are otherwise taken as different and may not have however a different cause. This does not diminish the properties of life or make its components and functions less interesting. On the contrary, this approach makes for a more encompassing and integrated view of nature, one that subsumes observer and observed within the same system, and can generate new perspectives and tools with which to view complex diseases like cancer, approaching them afresh from a software-engineering viewpoint that casts evolution in the role of programmer, cells as computing machines, DNA and genes as instructions and computer programs, viruses as hacking devices, the immune system as a software debugging tool, and diseases as an information-theoretic battlefield where all these forces deploy. We show how information theory and algorithmic programming may explain fundamental mechanisms of life and death.Comment: 30 pages, 8 figures. Invited chapter contribution to Information and Causality: From Matter to Life. Sara I. Walker, Paul C.W. Davies and George Ellis (eds.), Cambridge University Pres

Verwerfungslinien in Organisationen - die Wirkung von Kontextfaktoren auf die Verbundenheit in Organisationen

Die Bedeutung von Commitment aus Sicht der Unternehmen bzw. der Organisationen wird in den letzten Jahren kontroversiell diskutiert wird. Einerseits wird im Bereich der Personalressourcen ein wesentlicher zentraler Wettbewerbsvorteil gesehen. Gleichzeitig können sehr verschiedene Formen von Beschäftigungsflexibilisierung beobachtet werden. Diese unterschiedlichen Zugänge werden in diesem Beitrag aufgezeigt und die vielseitige Einbettung von Arbeit wie z. B. die Wahrnehmung von Dispositionsmöglichkeiten im Hinblick auf Zeit, auf individuellen Handlungsspielräume oder auch die erlebte soziale Gerechtigkeit präsentiert. All diese Dimensionen bergen das Potenzial in sich, sich als Trenn- bzw. Verwerfungslinien (faultlines) in Organisationen darzustellen und damit auch Einfluss auf die Bindung in Organisationen zu haben

Natriuretic peptide receptors on rat thymocytes: Inhibition of proliferation by atrial natriuretic peptide.

Because the thymus expresses the natriuretic peptides (NP) as well as their respective receptors, an involvement of NP in the physiology of this organ has been suggested. To evaluate functional aspects of NP in the thymus, we looked for thymic cells bearing NP receptors (Npr). Furthermore, the regulation of Npr expression by activation of cells and the influence of NP on the proliferation of thymocytes was studied. Expression of receptor messenger RNAs CmRNAs) was examined by PCR and Northern blot. Existence of functional Npr was confirmed by measurement of cGMP, the second messenger of NP. Proliferation of thymocytes upon concanavalin A (Con A) stimulation was analyzed by incorporation of [“Hlthymidine. We report here that thymocytes express mRNAs for the three Npr, namely Npra, Nprb, and Nprc and that activation of Npra and Nprb increases cGMP levels. Stimulation of thymocytes with Con A (1 pg/ml, 48 h) resulted in an increase of mRNA coding for Npra, the receptor specific for atria1 natriuretic peptide (ANP) and brain natriuretic peptide. Nprb and Nprc receptor expression was not altered under these conditions. In agreement with these data only ANP, but not the C-type natriuretic peptide, elicited increased cGMP response in Con A-stimulated cells. ANP inhibited also the proliferation of Con A stimulated thymocytes, whereas C-type natriuretic peptide did not show this effect. These results suggest that ANP affects the complex mechanisms of thymocyte proliferation and differentiation

Intranasal insulin to improve developmental delay in children with 22q13 deletion syndrome: an exploratory clinical trial

Background: The 22q13 deletion syndrome (Phelan– McDermid syndrome) is characterised by a global developmental delay, absent or delayed speech, generalised hypotonia, autistic behaviour and characteristic phenotypic features. Intranasal insulin has been shown to improve declarative memory in healthy adult subjects and in patients with Alzheimer disease. Aims: To assess if intranasal insulin is also able to improve the developmental delay in children with 22q13 deletion syndrome. Methods: We performed exploratory clinical trials in six children with 22q13 deletion syndrome who received intranasal insulin over a period of 1 year. Short-term (during the first 6 weeks) and long-term effects (after 12 months of treatment) on motor skills, cognitive functions, or autonomous functions, speech and communication, emotional state, social behaviour, behavioural disorders, independence in daily living and education were assessed. Results: The children showed marked short-term improvements in gross and fine motor activities, cognitive functions and educational level. Positive long-term effects were found for fine and gross motor activities, nonverbal communication, cognitive functions and autonomy. Possible side effects were found in one patient who displayed changes in balance, extreme sensitivity to touch and general loss of interest. One patient complained of intermittent nose bleeding. Conclusions: We conclude that long-term administration of intranasal insulin may benefit motor development, cognitive functions and spontaneous activity in children with 22q13 deletion syndrome