Back in the 1940s, John Von Neumann-a giant in the development of modern computers-investigated the theoretical possibilities of self-reproduction. He essentially asserted that a self-reproducible machine would require a "tape" or other description of itself. During reproduction, this tape would serve as the set of instructions for building a copy of the machine and would itself be copied to create the seed necessary for the next generation.

DNA, of course, turned out to have precisely these properties. What a beautiful story! One of the very first computer scientists, a mathematician and engineer, made a prediction of the fundamental mechanism of life that biologists subsequently discovered. The truth, of course, turns out to be a little more complicated. But in a forthcoming denouement, engineering is poised for a triumphant comeback in molecular biology.