Context free languages in biological systems

Abstract

A set of definitions is proposed which places a dynamic model of growth and stabilization in biological systems in a formal language framework. The language of stable adult strings achievable in a system without cellular interactions is studied. It is shown that o if every string is considered to be a possible initial string in development, then the class of languages defined is properly included in the class of regular languages. However if, as is biologically reasonable, development can only start from strings drawn from a finite initial set, then the class of languages defined is exactly the class of context free languages.