Your genetic uniqueness is a mere trifle
Scientists have calculated the amount of information that determines the uniqueness of each person
DailyTechInfo based on Gizmodo materials: How many gigabytes does it take to make a human?Scientists have been thinking about the question for a long time, how much information is contained in each person's body?
The popularizer of science (a physicist by education) tried to answer this question Derek Muller, who used the usual binary calculus system to encode the entire amount of information contained in the human genome.
According to Muller's calculations, each cell of the human body contains about 1.5 gigabytes of genetic information. This means that genetic information can easily fit on a standard DVD, and its volume is equivalent to the volume of 511 photographs taken by a digital camera with average parameters, when one picture has an average size of 3 megabytes.
It is known that the DNA sequence is encoded by alternating four types of molecules, denoted by the letters A, T, G and C. Each of these letters can be encoded with two binary bits - 00, 10, 11, 01, and when these two bits are multiplied by 6 billion, which corresponds to the length of the genetic code, and then divided by 8, the above value is obtained, equal to 1.5 gigabytes.
Continuing his calculations, Muller calculated that taking into account the fact that there are an average of 40 trillion cells in the human body, the total amount of information in the human body is about 60 zettabytes, a huge number consisting of the number 60, followed by 21 zeros. To understand the magnitude of this number, it is worth pointing out that according to forecasts, by 2020 the total amount of all digital information created by mankind will be about 40 zettabytes.
But the most interesting thing is the fact that 99.9 percent of all genetic information is exactly the same for all people on the globe. This, in turn, means that the human genome contains only one thousandth of the unique information that is responsible for the uniqueness and uniqueness of each person. And this unique information will fit on one ancient 3.5-inch floppy disk.
Portal "Eternal youth" http://vechnayamolodost.ru07.07.2014