By Kunihiko Kaneko
This booklet examines existence now not from the reductionist viewpoint, yet particularly asks the questions: what are the common homes of residing platforms, and the way can one build from there a phenomenological conception of existence that leads obviously to advanced strategies akin to reproductive mobile structures, evolution and differentiation? The presentation is comparatively non-technical to entice a vast spectrum of scholars and researchers.
Read or Download Life: An Introduction to Complex Systems Biology (Understanding Complex Systems) PDF
Similar biology books
Transgenic Crops IV (Biotechnology in Agriculture and Forestry, Vol. 59)
Genetic engineering is a robust software for crop development. Crop biotechnology prior to 2001 used to be reviewed in Transgenic vegetation I-III, yet fresh advances in plant phone and molecular biology have caused the necessity for brand spanking new volumes. Transgenic plants IV bargains with cereals, greens, root vegetation, herbs and spices.
- Endurance Exercise and Adipose Tissue
- Comparative Genomics
- Advances in Fetal and Neonatal Physiology: Proceedings of the Center for Perinatal Biology 40th Anniversary Symposium (Advances in Experimental Medicine and Biology)
- The Prokaryotes: Prokaryotic Biology and Symbiotic Associations
- Localization and Orientation in Biology and Engineering
- Molecular Biology of Mutagens and Carcinogens
Additional resources for Life: An Introduction to Complex Systems Biology (Understanding Complex Systems)
Sample text
Here we see spontaneity in its most rudimentary form. In general, the behavior of a living creature is not uniquely determined by its genes and the environmental conditions to which it is subject. Each individual also carries with it the effect of its personal history. At any time, its internal state depends not only on its genes and environment but also on this history. Then, the behavior that it displays at any given time depends on this internal state. Even the behavior of a single cell is not determined completely by its genes and environment but also depends on its physiological condition.
As another example, it is known that there is a mechanism through which the presence of just a few molecules at a cell receptor can be amplified into a recognizable signal. It is also important here to note that living systems have the characteristic ability of reproduction. In other words, they have the ability to increase the number of molecules and cells. Such increase implies the existence of an amplification mechanism. In order to make cell division possible, it is first necessary that within the cell there take place chemical reactions through which the number of each of the various types of molecules essentially doubles.
It is then in vain, for example, to attempt to fit as accurately as possible, say, 1,000 coupled differential equations describing processes that each contains some significant percentage of fluctuations. 5 The Essential Difficulty Involved in Constructing That Precisely Describe Biological Phenomena When studying a simple system that can be described with just a few variables, it is often possible to precisely determine a unique fundamental relation between these variables that can account for experimental data.