Sharon Stefanovic with Lawrence Krauss & Cyrus Taylor
Information and Genetic Evolution
All genetic information necessary for reproduction is passed from generation to generation through DNA. Just how this information is processed during the DNA replication process is of vital interest in understanding the mechanics of genetic evolution of species.
We will attempt to explore how mutation rates are related to error coding, and how this relates to the sequencing of the human genome. The project may include the continuance of previous students’ work involving the dynamics of genetic drift.
The actual amount of unique information contained in a genetic sequence, and the entropy of that information, are of interest. As a first step, the compressibility of a sequence of data using a general zip algorithm asymptotically yields the amount of entropy in the sequence1.
- Benedetto, Dario, Emanuele Caglioti, and Vittorio Loreto.“Language Trees and Zipping.” Physical Review Letters, V. 88, No. 4. 28 January 2002.