IP: Another view from Josh Lederberg on First Cells, Then Species, Now the Web

[Dave Farber <farber () cis upenn edu>]

[ Josh is a Nobel Laureate djf]

> To: Dave Farber <farber () cis upenn edu>
> From: Joshua Lederberg <jsl () jl10 rockefeller edu>
>
>
> > Dave,
>
>
> Conversely:
>
>
> <<<<
> Microbiology=s World Wide Web
> by Joshua Lederberg
>   (excerpt from a column syndicated abroad)
>
> .fi
> All the fashionable talk about computer "viruses" is supposed to explain what
> these culprits do by analogy to their biological namesakes. But it may be
> equally enlightening to think of the biosphere of the real, living microbes
> as a world wide web of informational exchange.  Indeed, the two have much in
> common, for living microbes exchange information with each other and their
> environment, with DNA serving as the packets of data going every which way.
> What is different in the world of microbes is that they, unlike computer
> viruses, can evolve, and do so at a faster pace than their hosts.  Microbes
> are in fact well designed to exploit this difference to their advantage in
> the war that occasionally erupts between them and other species.
> > > > >
>
> God help us, someday the computer viruses may also be designed to "evolve".
> Or, unlikely, by happenstance.
>
>     Joshua



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