Biology Direct
Volume 3
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 HypothesisErwin Schroedinger, Francis Crick and epigenetic stabilityVasily V Ogryzko  Université Paris-Sud 11, CNRS, Interactions moléculaires et cancer UMR 8126, Institut de Cancérologie Gustave-Roussy, Villejuif, France  author email corresponding author email
Biology Direct 2008,
3:15doi:10.1186/1745-6150-3-15 Abstract
Schroedinger's book 'What is Life?' is widely credited for having played a crucial role in development of molecular and cellular biology. My essay revisits the issues raised by this book from the modern perspective of epigenetics and systems biology. I contrast two classes of potential mechanisms of epigenetic stability: 'epigenetic templating' and 'systems biology' approaches, and consider them from the point of view expressed by Schroedinger. I also discuss how quantum entanglement, a nonclassical feature of quantum mechanics, can help to address the 'problem of small numbers' that led Schroedinger to promote the idea of a molecular code-script for explaining the stability of biological order. | 
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