title: From the primordial soup to self-driving cars: standards and their role in natural and technological innovation.
abstract: Standards are specifications to which the elements of a technology must conform. Here, we apply this notion to the biochemical 'technologies' of nature, where objects like DNA and proteins, as well as processes like the regulation of gene activity are highly standardized. We introduce the concept of standards with multiple examples, ranging from the ancient genetic material RNA, to Palaeolithic stone axes, and digital electronics, and we discuss common ways in which standards emerge in nature and technology. We then focus on the question of how standards can facilitate technological and biological innovation. Innovation-enhancing standards include those of proteins and digital electronics. They share common features, such as that few standardized building blocks can be combined through standard interfaces to create myriad useful objects or processes. We argue that such features will also characterize the most innovation-enhancing standards of future technologies.
authors: Institute of Evolutionary Biology and Environmental Studies, University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland Swiss Institute of Bioinformatics, Lausanne, Switzerland Santa Fe Institute, Santa Fe, NM, USA andreas.wagner@ieu.uzh.ch.
authors: Andreas
authors: A
authors: Wagner
authors: Santa Fe Institute, Santa Fe, NM, USA Department of Anthropology, University of Colorado Boulder, Boulder, CO, USA.
authors: Scott
authors: S
authors: Ortman
authors: Santa Fe Institute, Santa Fe, NM, USA.
authors: Robert
authors: R
authors: Maxfield
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D004247:DNA; D006801:Humans; D000069497:Origin of Life; D011506:Proteins; D012313:RNA
chemical_list: D011506:Proteins; D012313:RNA; D004247:DNA
keywords: evolution; innovation; technology