Investigating the Evolution and Development of Biological Systems from the Perspective of Thermo-Kinetics and Systems Th
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Investigating the Evolution and Development of Biological Systems from the Perspective of Thermo-Kinetics and Systems Theory Mohammad Amin Boojari 1 Received: 14 July 2020 / Accepted: 29 October 2020/ # Springer Nature B.V. 2020
Abstract
Life itself is grander than the sum of its constituent molecules. Any living organism may be regarded as a part of a dissipative process that connects irreversible energy consumption with growth, reproduction, and evolution. Under energy-fuelled, far-fromequilibrium conditions, chemical systems capable of exponential growth can manifest a specific form of stability– dynamic kinetic stability (DKS) – indicating the persistence of self-reproducible entities. This kinetic behavior is associated with thermodynamic conditions far from equilibrium leading to an evolutionary view of the origin of life in which increasing entities have to be associated with the dissipation of free energy. This review aims to reformulate Darwinian theory in physicochemical terms so that it can handle both animate and inanimate systems, thus helping to overcome this theoretical divide. The expanded formulation is based on the principle of dynamic kinetic stability and evidence from the emerging field of systems chemistry. Although the classic Darwinian theory is useful for understanding the origins and evolution of species, it is not meant to primarily build an explicit framework for predicting potential evolution routes. Throughout the last century, the inherently systemic and dynamic nature of the biological systems has been brought to the attention of researchers. During the last decades, “systems” approaches to biology and genome evolution are gaining ever greater significance providing the possibility of a deeper interpretation of the basic concepts of life. Further progress of this approach depends on crossing disciplinary boundaries and complex simulations of biological systems. Evolutionary systems biology (ESB) through the integration of methods from evolutionary biology and systems biology aims to the understanding of the fundamental principles of life as well as the prediction of biological systems evolution. Keywords Dynamic kinetic stability . Systems chemistry . Systems biology . Evolutionary systems biology
* Mohammad Amin Boojari [email protected] Extended author information available on the last page of the article
Boojari M.A.
Introduction Despite recent dramatic insights into the molecular biology of living systems, current biology has challenges with the very essence of biological reality. The problem was articulated in distinct words by Kauffman (Kauffman 2000): “[we] know many of the parts and many of the processes. But what makes a cell alive is still not clear to us. The center is still mysterious.” Indeed, the challenging question, “What is Life?” posed more than half a century ago by Schrödinger (1944), has not yet been resolved, a source of unending debate. While the ongoing discussion on the role of reductionist insight in biology shows the difficulties at the methodol
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