Wagner Andreas, Ortman Scott, Maxfield Robert
Institute of Evolutionary Biology and Environmental Studies, University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland Swiss Institute of Bioinformatics, Lausanne, Switzerland Santa Fe Institute, Santa Fe, NM, USA
Santa Fe Institute, Santa Fe, NM, USA Department of Anthropology, University of Colorado Boulder, Boulder, CO, USA.
J R Soc Interface. 2016 Feb;13(115):20151086. doi: 10.1098/rsif.2015.1086.
Standards are specifications to which the elements of a technology must conform. Here, we apply this notion to the biochemical 'technologies' of nature, where objects like DNA and proteins, as well as processes like the regulation of gene activity are highly standardized. We introduce the concept of standards with multiple examples, ranging from the ancient genetic material RNA, to Palaeolithic stone axes, and digital electronics, and we discuss common ways in which standards emerge in nature and technology. We then focus on the question of how standards can facilitate technological and biological innovation. Innovation-enhancing standards include those of proteins and digital electronics. They share common features, such as that few standardized building blocks can be combined through standard interfaces to create myriad useful objects or processes. We argue that such features will also characterize the most innovation-enhancing standards of future technologies.
标准是一种技术要素必须遵循的规范。在此，我们将这一概念应用于自然界的生化“技术”，在自然界中，诸如DNA和蛋白质之类的物质，以及像基因活性调控这样的过程都是高度标准化的。我们通过多个例子引入标准的概念，范围从古遗传物质RNA到旧石器时代的石斧，再到数字电子技术，并且我们讨论了标准在自然界和技术中出现的常见方式。然后，我们聚焦于标准如何促进技术和生物创新这一问题。促进创新的标准包括蛋白质和数字电子技术的标准。它们具有共同特征，比如少数标准化的构建模块可以通过标准接口组合起来，以创造出无数有用的物体或过程。我们认为，这些特征也将是未来技术中最能促进创新的标准的特点。
