Semiosis in action: A biomolecular perspective

Abstract

The consideration of semiotic relations and operations in genetic coding leads to a revision of the accepted understanding of the sign as a kind of substitute associated with some object by social conventions. The new perspective allows us to eliminate the conventional and socially determined characteristics of signs as conditio sine qua non and adopt a broader understanding of sign production as an inherent property of systems that control information processes. An exemplification of such a system is the GC (the genetic code), it encompasses correlation schemes between nucleotides and amino acids. It also includes operations that regulate and interact with the context (environment). The recognition of conventionality as a necessary condition can be reformulated and replaced by interaction schemes. As a first step, we reconsider the representation of the genetic code as a static vocabulary and recognize its dynamic character – in this case a sign as determined association between the signified and the signifier arises every time as a result of an operation performed here and now, as a codepoiesis (or semiopoiesis) in action. At the same time, the nature of semiosis at each stage of the gene expression (DNA - mRNA - tRNA) is changed. These stages can be considered as a transition from hypertext (genome as a set or sequence of texts) to a single text (gene) and sign (tRNA). A full-fledged sign as a triadic relationship (sign vehicle – sense – meaning) is represented by tRNA. Additionally, in association with mRNA, tRNA acts as a second-order signifier for a complex sign: codon of mRNA → {(tRNA anticodon + tRNA) → amino acid}.