Chapter 3
Changing the Paradigm: Towards Computation with Molecules
‘Jutro to dzi
, tyle 
e jutro’
(Tomorrow is today, only tomorrow)
Sławomir Mroek
Analogies are made possible by Nature's wonderful system of structural parallelism in which a physical element in one system may be represented by a corresponding physical element in another [1]; in some cases appropriate scaling is necessary [2]. Molecular information processing is a common feature of numerous biological and chemical systems. Living things have always processed information for purposes of survival [3]. Furthermore, each living cell is a spatially confined system which exchanges matter, energy and information with the environment [4]. To achieve this, each cell must be interfaced with the environment and possess an internal network for self-processing. This dynamic process of mutual interactions of cells with the milieu is identified as a necessary condition of life.
The systems interface is delineated physically by the cell membrane in the form of a nanometre-thick phospholipidsphingolipidglycolipidbilayer with embedded or peripherally attached proteins that together serve as a boundary for the containment, transfer and ...
