Demon with dementia – the deterioration of information transcription

Abstract In introductory biology, aging is typically explained as a result of mutations during the DNA replication process within cells. Upon abstraction, we recognize that cellular aging can be understood as the gradual decay in fidelity of information transcription. Since cellular processes are microscopic and inherently stochastic, the abstracted process of information transcription can be understood using Markovian dynamics. In our work, we model the process of information transcription with an autonomous Maxwell’s demon (AMD) which interacts with two bitstreams, a lifted mass, and a heat reservoir. As main results, we analyze the steady-state properties of the system with both time-independent and time-dependent transition rates, focusing on the statistics of extractable work, bit transcription fidelity, and two-bit mutual information. Together, these results provide a holistic view of a simplified model for DNA transcription as an information-theoretic process.