On the minimal elements of the genetic code and their semiotic functions (degeneracy, complementarity, wobbling).

We address semiotic features of genetic coding, primarily the mechanisms for distinguishing between triplets. It implies that the minimal elements that allow codon recognition and amino acid coding should be identified. Half a century ago, linguist Roman Jakobson and microbiologist François Jacob revealed functional similarities between nucleotides in the genetic code and phonemes in natural language.

On the context-sensitive grammar of the genetic code.

We address the possibilities of the semiotic description of the genetic information as a dual and self-replicative system of correspondence between its biochemical substance and semiotic form of organization. Combining the principles of contextual dependence and arbitrariness of sign leads to the conclusion that the genetic code's primary elements (nucleotides) can be considered not as biochemical constants but as semiotic or, more precisely, grammatical variables. We suggest describing the genetic code as a language, consisting of 1) units of the alphabet; 2) a vocabulary that includes meaningful items and the rules of correspondence between units of different levels; 3) context-sensitive grammar - a system of rules for the formation of units based on abstract grammatical categories.