factual

Schrodinger predicted DNA as an aperiodic crystal

Schrodinger reasoned that heredity requires atoms arranged to store information stably: a gas or fluid is too random and a regular crystal carries no new information (each atom predicts the next), so genetic material must be an 'aperiodic crystal' where successive units are not predictable from the current one — a prediction realized by DNA.

factualpending

Speaker

Sean Carroll

Evidence Quote

it must have a configuration of atoms inside that contains information in a relatively stable form. So it can't be a real crystal because real crystals are just predictable and no information, but it also can't be a gas or a fluid. It has to be what Schrodinger called an aperiodic crystal

Source

320 | Solo: Complexity and the UniverseSean Carroll's Mindscape
Created: 6/13/2026, 12:13:02 AM

My Notes

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