Global Journal of Human Social Science, G: Linguistics and Education, Volume 21 Issue 14

cells and to new generations. Given this organization and the fact that the molecules (DNA and proteins) would be endowed with information, their functioning was compared to a computer. So, the DNA would be the program and, from then on, it would be adopted as a "genetic program". Atlan, at the time, attributed the programming analogy to DNA as a metaphor. According to the author “[...] to a very loose metaphor. In fact, when we look at DNA, we don't find any sign of computer language” (ATLAN, 2013, p. 125). For Henri Atlan, self-organized systems describe the properties and capacities of living organisms to self-organize, thus providing a basis for situations in which living beings self-organize, based on models from Physics and Chemistry. Atlan (2013) was concerned with showing the organization of matter, with some degree of randomness, that is, a source of errors in transmission, which he called noise. For Atlan, the fact that they consider DNA as a computer program is based on the following attributes: [...] DNA is a quaternary script easily reducible to a binary sequence; every sequential deterministic computer program is reducible to a binary sequence; the genetic determinations produced by the structure of the DNA work like a sequential program written in the DNA of genes (ATLAN, 2013, p. 159). According to the author, the concept of DNA is summarized as a program, without even placing a random sequence at the center of the controversies. Furthermore, a binary sequence is not just a program in the DNA (ATLAN, 2006). According to Atlan (2013), making the distinction between DNA as a "program" and DNA as a "data set" is to consider the implications involved in the role of the DNA nucleic sequence itself, that is, in the genetic determinations under the form of an alternative, between a program function and a data function. For him, this alternative allows us to question the role of the set of cells when always associated with DNA in the production of such determinations. The classical notion of genetic program for DNA had, in its time, the heuristic and operational merit according to Henri Atlan (2003, 2006 and 2013). However, it points to situations that lead to the decline of scientific research when considering DNA from a metaphor, governed by unknown mechanisms, at the expense of explicitly knowing such devices. Therefore, it bases the conception of DNA as data, starting from the elements of the Information Theory area from the conceptions of the American Claude Shannon (1916- 2001). Shannon attributes entropy as a way to quantify the degree of uncertainty of a source of information, that is, it makes it possible to quantify the degree of complexity of a data set. “I used Shannon's information theory to formalize noise effects, that is, different factors of random aggression to organized systems” (ATLAN, 2006, p. 15). Using Shannon's formula, it is possible to explain how the amount of information occurs in living organisms and to quantify the complexity of biological systems. The formula shows itself by a function: (1) In the formula, the amount of information in a message is represented by (x); (i) represents the index of symbols (x) used in the message (x 1 , x 2 , x 3 , x 4 , ... x i ., ..., x N ); p(i) represents the probability of the symbol x i .; As a result of experience by the formula [1] Shannon a message is sent through signs or symbols for the recipient to reconstruct the results that arrive to them. This means that there must be a code that allows extracting the result that is transmitted with the symbols of that message. Furthermore, the probabilities of the symbols of a message are independent, that is, the result of an experience does not influence the previous experience (ATLAN, 2006). Atlan justifies from [1] nuances to support his conception of DNA as data and not as a program. Although the notion of noise for the Communication Theory is undesirable, for natural systems through the occurrence of noise (natural and social elements, among others), there are alternatives in communication, which leads to new forms of organization and survival. Such aspect makes any natural system complex (ATLAN, 2013). In considering the analogy of the computer program, when referring to DNA, presupposes that it would be enough to wait for it to be executed, step-by- step, successively, in a respective time interval, until completing a cycle. In the case of an embryo, for example, it would develop as such program starts to be executed. What is necessary, according to Henri Atlan, is to understand “[...] how matter can itself change its form and activities, depending on its own history” (ATLAN, 2003, p. 127). For the author, the metaphor of the genetic program allows for mistakes inasmuch as the meanings are hidden from the adopted information. It is like a habit, in which the problem is neglected, both in information technology and in programming sciences, for ignoring that the source of meanings are human individuals: both those who "[...] send and receive a message, or those who write a program and make it possible to be executed” (Atlan, 2013, p. 158). Therefore, Atlan (2013) concludes that if DNA is in fact a program, this set of cells would play the role of a program in encoding the data. And, if DNA is in fact data, it would have the advantage of raising discussions and problematizations about DNA as a program. For the author, when the dimension analyzed is complex, a conduct in the sense of organization and adaptation shows results with disruptive effects and unplanned environment. © 2021 Global Journals Volume XXI Issue XIV Version I 15 ( G ) Global Journal of Human Social Science - Year 2021 Conceptions about Teaching DNA in Basic Education: A Reading based on Henri Atlan ( ) = − � ( ) 2 ( )