I did some thinking about Kampis, and his reading frames. I will pose
my interpretation of what it can mean, apart from the fact if Kampis
would agree.
If we look at a cell the DNA is the code that is red. It is red by
proteins that copy dna to dna [I don't call this really reading], and
proteins that copy dna to mrna. Later this messenger rna is
translated into poly-aminoacids, we call proteins, at the sites we
call ribosomes which involves ribosomal rna [I am not sure wether
ribosomes are the same as r-rna, but that is not important here].
There are a lot of inbetween stages, like transport over the nucleus
membrame, if there is one, etc, etc.
We can call the dna-rna-proteins process a process of translation, or
reading. But the red sequencial poly-aminoacid is interpreted into a
functional 3-d 'blob' by physical bondings, not described by the dna
[sofar all is from pattee, 1977]. Pattee calls this 2-d to 3-d
transformation from the non-dynamical description to the dynamical
functional matter transduction.
What Kampis is trying to say, is that there is a control process over
what is to be red. DNA is only red in little peaces at the time, and
what peaces are red is controlled. Now what does the controlling?
As I understand it from control operons like the lac-operon,
generally a peace of dna is red, if it is not shielded by a
blocking-protein and has the beginning code.
DNA-transcriptase [the proteine that reads dna to
rna] will execute any dna with a beginning sequence. The blocking
protein can be removed directly by some
cell-chemical, or indirectly by other proteins that can be activated
by cell-chemicals, or again other proteins, etc, etc, etc,. This
yields a beautifuly complex, connected network complexity people like
to think about.
All these proteins are red from the dna, and need the dna for new
protein, since proteins deteriorate [sometimes by other proteins].
I believe that Kampis calls the particular state of this control
system the reading frame. In that case a shifting reading frame is a
reading frame that can shift from one state to another, either by
a change in reading activity [more or other proteins] or by a change
in cell chemicals [yes ok, also physical electricity can function in
this way] coming from outside, or from within a cell. A state
is then defined by the different blockers on the DNA, different proteins and
cell-chamicalls in different concentrations in a cell at a particular time.
However to change the state of the reading
frame as I have defined it can also come about by changing the
connections or structure of the frame. This can only be done by
mutations in the dna. Hereby proteins that have a function in the
frame are altered, so that their receptability, or another function
changes. Consider the case in which a blocker cannot be unblocked
anymore, or the de-blocker fails to deblock a dna code when its
products are needed, etc etc.
My point was that this altering of structure [ in a biological context
of course, ] can only come about by mutations. Now there are many
different ways that mutations can occur, but they have in general
that they cannot write purposefull information. Variation processes
[read mutation] in biology are blind [read campbell, 1974]!
This variation in general, is really important at the moment that one
cell is the beginning for a whole organism. To explain how this blind
writing can end up in things like the eye, we have the theories of
evolution by darwin, that always consider what he called species. And
a species needs more organisms to evolve. So
looking at one cell is never gonna get you a writing system into the
structure of the reading frame. That is what Kampis missed, or did
not mention.
All clear?
Theories come and go, the frog stays [F. Jacob]
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