The lower threshold as a unifying principle between Code Biology and Biosemiotics.

Whether we emphasize the notion of 'sign' or the notion of 'code', either way the main interest of biosemiotics and Code Biology is the same, and we argue that the idea of the lower threshold is what still unifies these two groups. Code Biology concentrates on the notion of code: living organisms are defined as code-users or code-makers, and so it may be called the 'lower coding threshold' in this case. The semiotic threshold on the other hand is a concept without a specific definition.

Can quantitative approaches develop bio/semiotic theory?

This special issue addresses question about the place of quantitative methods in the field of biosemiotics. Many standpoints have been taken by contributing authors to demonstrate that the answer to this question is not straightforward. Considering quantitative methods in biosemiotics is necessarily related to inclusion of other scientific fields and interdisciplinary dialogue.

Arbitrariness is not enough: towards a functional approach to the genetic code.

Arbitrariness in the genetic code is one of the main reasons for a linguistic approach to molecular biology: the genetic code is usually understood as an arbitrary relation between amino acids and nucleobases. However, from a semiotic point of view, arbitrariness should not be the only condition for definition of a code, consequently it is not completely correct to talk about "code" in this case. Yet we suppose that there exist a code in the process of protein synthesis, but on a higher level than the nucleic bases chains.