Building on a range of disciplines – from biology and anthropology to philosophy and linguistics – this book draws on the expertise of leading names in the study of organic, mental and cultural codes brought together by the emerging discipline of biosemiotics. The volume represents the first multi-authored attempt to deal with the range of codes relevant to life, and to reveal the ubiquitous role of coding mechanisms in both organic and mental evolution.

Just as The Double Helix introduced readers to the genetic code, this "remarkably lucid, and insightful" (Time) book will unveil the newly emerging synaptic code which governs the brain, and will reveal how theoretical and technological tools are changing the course of life on Earth.

The genetic code was deciphered experimentally around 1966 and for a number of years scientists considered it to be "universal" for all forms of life. In 1981 researchers shocked the scientific community with the discovery that the code differed in mitochondria and certain other organisms, evidence that the genetic code was still evolving. This book discusses the distribution and origin of the non-universal codes and examines the possible mechanisms of code changes, making it essential reading for all those interested in evolutionary genetics.

The genetic code appeared on Earth with the first cells. The codes of cultural evolution arrived almost four billion years later. These are the only codes that are recognized by modern biology. In this book, however, Marcello Barbieri explains that there are many more organic codes in nature, and their appearance not only took place throughout the history of life but marked the major steps of that history. A code establishes a correspondence between two independent 'worlds', and the codemaker is a third party between those 'worlds'. Therefore the cell can be thought of as a trinity of genotype, phenotype and ribotype. The ancestral ribotypes were the agents which gave rise to the first cells. The book goes on to explain how organic codes and organic memories can be used to shed new light on the problems encountered in cell signalling, epigenesis, embryonic development, and the evolution of language.

Not much literature exists on QR (Quick Response) Codes and their applications in the emerging digital society, making this foundational text very important to the field of technology. Revolving around the evolution and characteristics of QR Codes, it begins with a comprehensive discussion of past technologies, linking them with the emergence of today’s technologies as a way to synergize the utilization of QR Codes. The book spells out the “pros” and “cons” of QR Codes, providing potential challenges to their emergence. It will be useful for scholars of new media and technology, enabling them to understand the depths and details of the old and new media and the point where hybrid media evolve. It will be equally beneficial to practitioners across industries, helping them to incorporate QR Codes into everyday life.

This book is a printed edition of the Special Issue "The Origin and Evolution of the Genetic Code: 100th Anniversary Year of the Birth of Francis Crick" that was published in Life