Murat Güneş

Bray, Wetware (2009)

Bray, Dennis. Wetware: A Computer in Every Living Cell. New Haven: Yale University Press, 2009.

Bray sets out to argue that cells must perform some kind of computation, and that living organisms have a sense of awareness of their surroundings that is integral to their survival.

Major arguments of the book:

  • Living organisms must perform some kind of computation for survival. The information landscape of their immediate surroundings is too complex to allow for any other explanation. (p. 64)
  • Proteins are molecular switches in a cell. They perform the switching that is required for cellular computation. (p. 64)
  1. Microorganisms are physically changed upon contact with various chemicals in their environment
  2. A living cell contains an image of the world because it is born of the world
  3. Cellular processes work with “addresses” through microtubules and transport molecules
  4. Noise has determining influence over genetic processes
  5. Proteins in cell must change their connections (morph) to learn new tasks
  6. Reinforcement of synapses in neural processes is possibly “neural recruitment” (after Lakoff)
  7. Replicating molecules enclosed themselves in lipid containers at some stage of the RNA World
  8. The protein landscape of the cell constantly morphs in response to its environment
  9. Thermal diffusion is the mediator for cellular computation
  10. “There are no wires” - The mechanism of cellular computation is diffusion and genetic code
  11. An attention-like mechanism must exist for the cell to respond to simultaneous stimuli
  12. Biochemical processes at cell level are built to accommodate massive change
  13. Catalytic closure as defining trait of living organisms
  14. Living cells have an intrinistic sensitivity to their environment that is essential to survival
  15. Living organisms build and repair themselves with commonly available starting materials
  16. Molecular radar