Computers need programming languages to function. That’s just a simple fact of life. However, these languages didn’t just spring up out of nowhere. They were developed by people for explicit purposes.

Creating synthetic life could be easily within our grasp soon based on a comparison with the evolution of computer chips. Computer programming and gene synthesis appear to share little in common. But ...

Introduction -- Big Questions -- What This Book Is About -- Scientific Acronyms -- Molecular Graphics -- Section I. The Old Testament of Gene Regulation. Evolution as a Cutout Doll Problem I -- ...