Computing life: add Logos to Biology and Bios to Physics

A.N. Kolodkin, E. Simeonidis, H.V. Westerhoff

Research output: Contribution to JournalArticleAcademicpeer-review

Abstract

This paper discusses the interrelations between physics and biology. Particularly, we analyse the approaches for reconstructing the emergent properties of physical or biological systems. We propose approaches to scale emergence according to the degree of state-dependency of the system's component properties. Since the component properties of biological systems are state-dependent to a high extent, biological emergence should be considered as very strong emergence - i.e. its reconstruction would require a lot of information about state-dependency of its component properties. However, due to its complexity and volume, this information cannot be handled in the naked human brain, or on the back of an envelope. To solve this problem, biological emergence can be reconstructed in silico based on experimentally determined rate laws and parameter values of the living cell.According to some rough calculations, the silicon human might comprise the mathematical descriptions of around 10
Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)69-74
JournalProgress in Biophysics and Molecular Biology
Volume111
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2013

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