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Updated: May 11, 2026

BioMEMS: Forging New Collaborations Between Biologists and Engineers
Published on: November 1, 2007
At the dawn of a new revolution in life sciences
František Baluška1, Guenther Witzany
1František Baluška, IZMB, University of Bonn, 53113 Bonn, Germany.
Abstract:
In a recently published article Sydney Brenner argued that the most relevant scientific revolution in biology at his time was the breakthrough of the role of "information" in biology. The fundamental concept that integrates this new biological "information" with matter and energy is the universal Turing machine and von Neumann's self-reproducing machines. In this article we demonstrate that in contrast to Turing/von Neumann machines living cells can really reproduce themselves. Additionally current knowledge on the roles of non-coding RNAs indicates a radical violation of the central dogma of molecular biology and opens the way to a new revolution in life sciences.
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