However, results from this area have so far been somewhat disappointing. The units of H are called bits. This describes the maximum information content of a DNA message.
Less information is contained in sequences that depart from equal probability.
The Shannon-Weaver index can also be regarded as a measure of the complexity of a sequence. One way to think about the Shannon-Weaver index is in terms of uncertainty. Suppose the four bases are equally likely. After the base is read, the uncertainty is zero. The information content of the message is the decrease in uncertainty after it is decoded.