Spurred by advances in information technology, biologists attempted to explain ontogenic dynamics in computational terms at least since the 60s. This approach is motivated by the idea that, by knowing the computational properties of biological systems, we would be able to manipulate and reconfigure them, perform more refined experiments, or control undesired developmental processes, such as cancer. But what does it mean that a biological system is able to carry out computations? What kind of physical features make it possible to ascribe computational properties to a biological process? In this talk, I will explore some of the semantic and ontological issues that arise from a principled answer to these questions through the lens of Piccinini’s account of concrete computation.