First International Conference in Code Biology
Paris (France), 20-24 May 2014
Code Biology is the study of all codes of life with the standard methods of science. The genetic code and the codes of culture have been known for a long time and represent the starting point, the historical foundation, of Code Biology. What is really new in this field is the study of all codes that came after the genetic code and before the codes of culture. Some of these new codes have already been discovered, and it is likely that many more will come to light in the future. The existence of many organic codes in Nature, however, is not only a major experimental fact. It is one of those facts that have extraordinary theoretical implications. The first is that most great events of macroevolution were associated with the appearance of new organic codes, and this gives us a new description and a new understanding of the history of life. The second theoretical implication comes from the fact that codes involve meaning and we need therefore to introduce in biology, again with the standard methods of science, not only the concept of information but also the concept of meaning. The third theoretical implication comes from the fact that the organic codes have been highly conserved in evolution, which means that they are the great invariants of life, the entities that must be perpetuated while everything else is changing. Code Biology, in short, is bringing to light new mechanisms that have operated in the history of life and new fundamental concepts in theoretical biology.
The International Society of Code Biology (ISCB) was founded in 2012 with the aim of promoting the study of all codes of life. Applications for membership are welcome from scholars and researchers of all relevant disciplines, including biology, biochemistry, neurosciences, psychology, ecology, information theory, philosophy and semiotics.
Information about the Society is available at www.codebiology.org