A Story of Terms and Codes

"It all began on a quiet Thursday afternoon, October 13th, 2022. Out of the blue, Marcello Barbieri wrote to ask for my opinion on a curious list — fifty biological codes, each hyperlinked to papers, websites, and forum discussions. Some entries fit perfectly into Barbieri’s concept of organic or neural codes; others, less so. Still, the list had something intriguing about it — a map of hidden meanings in biology waiting to be explored.
At first glance, it was clear that just having a list of names wasn’t enough. To make sense of it all, I decided to bring order and structure. I opened a new Word document, created a table, and began describing each code in broader terms while trying to classify them meaningfully. (...)"

MORE

featured video

Video of the 2022 Interview with 
Marcello Barbieri

Filmed by João Carlos Major in Ferrara, Italy, September 18, 2022

Why code biology?

The genetic code appeared on Earth at the origin of life, and the codes of culture arrived almost four billion years later. For a long time it has been assumed that these are the only codes that exist in Nature, but in recent years more than 200 biological codes have been discovered and it is likely that more will come to light in the future. The existence of hundreds of codes in living systems is first of all an experimental fact but also more than that. It is one of those facts that have extraordinary theoretical implications.

more

The next conference of the International Society of Code Biology will be held in Portugal, in the city of Guimarães, the birthplace of national identity. A city that National Geographic says should be visited in 2026: “Portugal’s history comes alive in Guimarães. Here’s why 2026 is the year to visit. The little-known birthplace of Portugal has beautifully preserved its medieval past — and embarked on an ambitious and much-lauded journey toward sustainable urban living.”   

 Special Issues in Code Biology – BioSystems

BioSystems is a peer-reviewed international journal dedicated to research on information processing in living systems, theoretical biology, and complex adaptive systems.
 
Several Special Issues on Code Biology have been published in this journal, making it one of the central platforms for the development of the field. These special issues foster high-impact research connecting biological codes, evolution, neuroscience, and symbolic systems.
 
👉 We invite the community to explore these special issues and consider submitting their own contributions. 

MORE


On Codes, Meaning, and Scientific Boundaries: A Commentary

"This was a fascinating and beautifully produced video. It introduces a wide audience to the idea that life cannot be exhausted by chemistry alone, and that biological systems are structured through rules of correspondence — what Marcello Barbieri calls organic codes. That alone is an important public service.

Still, from a scientific standpoint, the video often moves into terrain that becomes metaphysically seductive but conceptually vaporous. When meaning is placed “before matter,” or when biological codes are conflated with human language and interpretation, we slide toward a kind of neo-vitalism — a direction that some forms of biosemiotics risk if they are not anchored in the empirical program of Code Biology. Barbieri’s insistence is precise: codes are not interpreted by an inner subject; they are implemented by molecular machines that establish stable correspondences between otherwise independent domains. Meaning, in this framework, is a functional outcome of codical processes, not a pre-existing metaphysical substrate. (...)"


more

This platform is dedicated to fostering research, dialogue, and community building in Code Biology. It is not the formal website of the legal society but an open hub for its scientific community.