title: In search of more complex genetic codes--can linguistics be a guide?
abstract: Striking similarities have been pointed out between the structures of the human language and the genetic code. The primary genetic code utilizes the principle of linear representation much like e.g. the Indo-European languages do. There are numerous indications that more complex secondary and tertiary structural elements in DNA direct highly specific interactions with proteins. Thus, more complex genetic codes might exist which might be superimposed on DNA sequences coding for polypeptides or might be extended to "non-coding" DNA sequences. Structural features of highly complex languages, like Chinese or Egyptian hieroglyphics using conceptual expression patterns have been compared to the more complex ways of encoding. It is proposed that the application of linguistic principles may be helpful in the computer analyses of known DNA sequences. There is considerable evidence for the innate specification at least for the basic structural elements of human languages. This innate specification may be the cause for language university. Based on the striking structural similarities between language and genetic code, the question is raised to what extent and in what way DNA sequences might be related to the innate specification of human languages.
mesh_terms: D003201:Computers; D005815:Genetic Code; D006801:Humans; D008037:Linguistics; D008962:Models, Theoretical