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Singh RS. A Concept of Complementarity Between Complexity and Redundancy can Account for Kant's Biological Teleology and Unify Mechanistic and Finalistic Biology. J Mol Evol 2024:10.1007/s00239-024-10169-w. [PMID: 38662236 DOI: 10.1007/s00239-024-10169-w] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/26/2023] [Accepted: 03/28/2024] [Indexed: 04/26/2024]
Abstract
Over 160 years after Darwin and 70 years after the discovery of DNA, two fundamental questions of biology remain unanswered: What differentiates the living from the nonliving? How can mechanistic and finalistic or holistic biology be unified? Niels Bohr introduced a concept of complementarity in quantum physics and based on the paradox of light as a simultaneous wave and particle, conjectured that a similar concept might exist in biology that would solve the paradox of life originating from the nonliving. Bohr proposed that two mutually exclusive-independent observations may be necessary to explain a phenomenon and provided support to Immanuel Kant's idea that the "purposive" behaviour of organisms could only be explained in teleological terms and that mechanical and teleological approaches were necessary and complementary to explain biology. We present a concept of complementarity whereby biochemical pathways or cellular channels for the flow of information are simultaneously complex and redundant and complexity and redundancy complement each other. The postulates of biological complementarity are that (1) it was an essential condition in the origin of life; (2) it provided physiological flexibility that allowed organisms to mount self-protection response and complexity to evolve in the face of deleterious mutations before the evolution of bi-parental sex; (3) it laid the foundation for the evolution of a choice of response when confronted with threat; and (4) it applies to all levels of biological organizations and, thus, can serve as a basis for the unification of mechanistic and holistic biology. It is proposed that teleology is simultaneously constitutive and heuristic: constitutive because organisms' "purposive" behaviours are adaptive and are grounded in mechanism (complexity and redundancy), and heuristic because with our finite cognition and our goal-oriented (humans alone are aware of "tomorrow") and anthropomorphic pre-disposition, teleology will remain useful as a guide to our making sense of the world, even how to ask a meaningful question.
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Affiliation(s)
- Rama S Singh
- Professor Emeritus, Department of Biology, McMaster University, 1280 Main St West, Hamilton, ON, L8S 4K1, Canada.
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2
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Kaufmann M. DNA as in-formation. WIRES. FORENSIC SCIENCE 2023; 5:e1470. [PMID: 37070086 PMCID: PMC10103537 DOI: 10.1002/wfs2.1470] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/08/2021] [Revised: 07/07/2022] [Accepted: 07/21/2022] [Indexed: 11/09/2022]
Abstract
Traces are fundamental vectors of information. This is the first of seven forensic principles formulated by the 2022 Sydney declaration. To better understand the trace as information, this article proposes the notion of in-formation. DNA is matter in becoming. DNA changes as it travels across forensic sites and domains. New formations occur as humans, technologies and DNA interact. Understanding DNA as in-formation is of particular relevance vis-à-vis the increase of algorithmic technologies in the forensic sciences and the rendering of DNA into (big) data. The concept can help identifying, acknowledging and communicating those moments of techno-scientific interaction that require discretion and methodical decisions. It can assist in tracing what form DNA will take and what consequences this may have. This article is categorized under:Crime Scene Investigation > From Traces to Intelligence and EvidenceForensic Biology > Ethical and Social ImplicationsForensic Biology > Forensic DNA Technologies.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mareile Kaufmann
- Department of Criminology and Sociology of LawUniversity of OsloOsloNorway
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3
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Preiner M, Asche S, Becker S, Betts HC, Boniface A, Camprubi E, Chandru K, Erastova V, Garg SG, Khawaja N, Kostyrka G, Machné R, Moggioli G, Muchowska KB, Neukirchen S, Peter B, Pichlhöfer E, Radványi Á, Rossetto D, Salditt A, Schmelling NM, Sousa FL, Tria FDK, Vörös D, Xavier JC. The Future of Origin of Life Research: Bridging Decades-Old Divisions. Life (Basel) 2020; 10:E20. [PMID: 32110893 PMCID: PMC7151616 DOI: 10.3390/life10030020] [Citation(s) in RCA: 39] [Impact Index Per Article: 9.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/31/2020] [Revised: 02/19/2020] [Accepted: 02/21/2020] [Indexed: 12/12/2022] Open
Abstract
Research on the origin of life is highly heterogeneous. After a peculiar historical development, it still includes strongly opposed views which potentially hinder progress. In the 1st Interdisciplinary Origin of Life Meeting, early-career researchers gathered to explore the commonalities between theories and approaches, critical divergence points, and expectations for the future. We find that even though classical approaches and theories-e.g. bottom-up and top-down, RNA world vs. metabolism-first-have been prevalent in origin of life research, they are ceasing to be mutually exclusive and they can and should feed integrating approaches. Here we focus on pressing questions and recent developments that bridge the classical disciplines and approaches, and highlight expectations for future endeavours in origin of life research.
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Affiliation(s)
- Martina Preiner
- Institute of Molecular Evolution, University of Düsseldorf, 40225 Düsseldorf, Germany; (S.G.G.); (F.D.K.T.)
| | - Silke Asche
- School of Chemistry, University of Glasgow, Glasgow G128QQ, UK;
| | - Sidney Becker
- Department of Chemistry, University of Cambridge, Lensfield Road, Cambridge CB2 1EW, UK;
| | - Holly C. Betts
- School of Earth Sciences, University of Bristol, Bristol BS8 1RL, UK;
| | - Adrien Boniface
- Environmental Microbial Genomics, Laboratoire Ampère, Ecole Centrale de Lyon, Université de Lyon, 69130 Ecully, France;
| | - Eloi Camprubi
- Origins Center, Department of Earth Sciences, Utrecht University, 3584 CB Utrecht, The Netherlands;
| | - Kuhan Chandru
- Space Science Center (ANGKASA), Institute of Climate Change, Level 3, Research Complex, National University of Malaysia, UKM Bangi 43600, Selangor, Malaysia;
- Department of Physical Chemistry, University of Chemistry and Technology, Prague, Technicka 5, 16628 Prague 6–Dejvice, Czech Republic
| | - Valentina Erastova
- UK Centre for Astrobiology, School of Chemistry, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh EH9 3FJ, UK;
| | - Sriram G. Garg
- Institute of Molecular Evolution, University of Düsseldorf, 40225 Düsseldorf, Germany; (S.G.G.); (F.D.K.T.)
| | - Nozair Khawaja
- Institut für Geologische Wissenschaften, Freie Universität Berlin, 12249 Berlin, Germany;
| | | | - Rainer Machné
- Institute of Synthetic Microbiology, University of Düsseldorf, 40225 Düsseldorf, Germany; (R.M.); (N.M.S.)
- Quantitative and Theoretical Biology, University of Düsseldorf, 40225 Düsseldorf, Germany
| | - Giacomo Moggioli
- School of Biological and Chemical Sciences, Queen Mary University of London, London E1 4DQ, UK;
| | - Kamila B. Muchowska
- Université de Strasbourg, CNRS, ISIS, 8 allée Gaspard Monge, 67000 Strasbourg, France;
| | - Sinje Neukirchen
- Archaea Biology and Ecogenomics Division, University of Vienna, 1090 Vienna, Austria; (S.N.); (E.P.); (F.L.S.)
| | - Benedikt Peter
- Cellular and Molecular Biophysics, Max Planck Institute of Biochemistry, 82152 Martinsried, Germany;
| | - Edith Pichlhöfer
- Archaea Biology and Ecogenomics Division, University of Vienna, 1090 Vienna, Austria; (S.N.); (E.P.); (F.L.S.)
| | - Ádám Radványi
- Department of Plant Systematics, Ecology and Theoretical Biology, Eötvös Loránd University, Pázmány Péter sétány 1/C, 1117 Budapest, Hungary (D.V.)
- Institute of Evolution, MTA Centre for Ecological Research, Klebelsberg Kuno u. 3., H-8237 Tihany, Hungary
| | - Daniele Rossetto
- Department of Cellular, Computational and Integrative Biology (CIBIO), University of Trento, 38123 Trento, Italy;
| | - Annalena Salditt
- Systems Biophysics, Physics Department, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München, 80799 Munich, Germany;
| | - Nicolas M. Schmelling
- Institute of Synthetic Microbiology, University of Düsseldorf, 40225 Düsseldorf, Germany; (R.M.); (N.M.S.)
- Cluster of Excellence on Plant Sciences (CEPLAS), University of Cologne, 50674 Cologne, Germany
| | - Filipa L. Sousa
- Archaea Biology and Ecogenomics Division, University of Vienna, 1090 Vienna, Austria; (S.N.); (E.P.); (F.L.S.)
| | - Fernando D. K. Tria
- Institute of Molecular Evolution, University of Düsseldorf, 40225 Düsseldorf, Germany; (S.G.G.); (F.D.K.T.)
| | - Dániel Vörös
- Department of Plant Systematics, Ecology and Theoretical Biology, Eötvös Loránd University, Pázmány Péter sétány 1/C, 1117 Budapest, Hungary (D.V.)
- Institute of Evolution, MTA Centre for Ecological Research, Klebelsberg Kuno u. 3., H-8237 Tihany, Hungary
| | - Joana C. Xavier
- Institute of Molecular Evolution, University of Düsseldorf, 40225 Düsseldorf, Germany; (S.G.G.); (F.D.K.T.)
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Cartwright JHE, Russell MJ. The origin of life: the submarine alkaline vent theory at 30. Interface Focus 2019; 9:20190104. [PMCID: PMC6802131 DOI: 10.1098/rsfs.2019.0104] [Citation(s) in RCA: 16] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/12/2019] [Accepted: 09/12/2019] [Indexed: 11/12/2023] Open
Affiliation(s)
- Julyan H. E. Cartwright
- Instituto Andaluz de Ciencias de la Tierra, CSIC–Universidad de Granada, 18100 Armilla, Granada, Spain
- Instituto Carlos I de Física Teórica y Computacional, Universidad de Granada, 18071 Granada, Spain
| | - Michael J. Russell
- NASA Astrobiology Institute, NASA Ames Research Center California, CA, USA
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Kennedy E, Arcadia CE, Geiser J, Weber PM, Rose C, Rubenstein BM, Rosenstein JK. Encoding information in synthetic metabolomes. PLoS One 2019; 14:e0217364. [PMID: 31269053 PMCID: PMC6608926 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0217364] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/09/2019] [Accepted: 05/10/2019] [Indexed: 12/17/2022] Open
Abstract
Biomolecular information systems offer exciting potential advantages and opportunities to complement conventional semiconductor technologies. Much attention has been paid to information-encoding polymers, but small molecules also play important roles in biochemical information systems. Downstream from DNA, the metabolome is an information-rich molecular system with diverse chemical dimensions which could be harnessed for information storage and processing. As a proof of principle of small-molecule postgenomic data storage, here we demonstrate a workflow for representing abstract data in synthetic mixtures of metabolites. Our approach leverages robotic liquid handling for writing digital information into chemical mixtures, and mass spectrometry for extracting the data. We present several kilobyte-scale image datasets stored in synthetic metabolomes, which can be decoded with accuracy exceeding 99% using multi-mass logistic regression. Cumulatively, >100,000 bits of digital image data was written into metabolomes. These early demonstrations provide insight into some of the benefits and limitations of small-molecule chemical information systems.
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Affiliation(s)
- Eamonn Kennedy
- School of Engineering, Brown University, Providence, RI, United States of America
| | | | - Joseph Geiser
- Department of Chemistry, Brown University, Providence, RI, United States of America
| | - Peter M. Weber
- Department of Chemistry, Brown University, Providence, RI, United States of America
| | - Christopher Rose
- School of Engineering, Brown University, Providence, RI, United States of America
| | - Brenda M. Rubenstein
- Department of Chemistry, Brown University, Providence, RI, United States of America
| | - Jacob K. Rosenstein
- School of Engineering, Brown University, Providence, RI, United States of America
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Jose AM. Replicating and Cycling Stores of Information Perpetuate Life. Bioessays 2018; 40:e1700161. [PMID: 29493806 DOI: 10.1002/bies.201700161] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/01/2017] [Revised: 01/06/2018] [Indexed: 12/12/2022]
Abstract
Life is perpetuated through a single-cell bottleneck between generations in many organisms. Here, I highlight that this cell holds information in two distinct stores: in the linear DNA sequence that is replicated during cell divisions, and in the three-dimensional arrangement of molecules that can change during development but is recreated at the start of each generation. These two interdependent stores of information - one replicating with each cell division and the other cycling with a period of one generation - coevolve while perpetuating an organism. Unlike the genome sequence, the arrangement of molecules, including DNA, RNAs, proteins, sugars, lipids, etc., is not well understood. Because this arrangement and the genome sequence are transmitted together from one generation to the next, analysis of both is necessary to understand evolution and origins of inherited diseases. Recent developments suggest that tools are in place to examine how all the information to build an organism is encoded within a single cell, and how this cell code is reproduced in every generation. See also the video abstract here: https://youtu.be/IdWEL-T6TPU.
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Affiliation(s)
- Antony M Jose
- Department of Cell Biology and Molecular Genetics, University of Maryland, College Park, MD, 20742, USA
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Miller WB. Biological information systems: Evolution as cognition-based information management. PROGRESS IN BIOPHYSICS AND MOLECULAR BIOLOGY 2017; 134:1-26. [PMID: 29175233 DOI: 10.1016/j.pbiomolbio.2017.11.005] [Citation(s) in RCA: 28] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/24/2017] [Revised: 11/16/2017] [Accepted: 11/21/2017] [Indexed: 01/08/2023]
Abstract
An alternative biological synthesis is presented that conceptualizes evolutionary biology as an epiphenomenon of integrated self-referential information management. Since all biological information has inherent ambiguity, the systematic assessment of information is required by living organisms to maintain self-identity and homeostatic equipoise in confrontation with environmental challenges. Through their self-referential attachment to information space, cells are the cornerstone of biological action. That individualized assessment of information space permits self-referential, self-organizing niche construction. That deployment of information and its subsequent selection enacted the dominant stable unicellular informational architectures whose biological expressions are the prokaryotic, archaeal, and eukaryotic unicellular forms. Multicellularity represents the collective appraisal of equivocal environmental information through a shared information space. This concerted action can be viewed as systematized information management to improve information quality for the maintenance of preferred homeostatic boundaries among the varied participants. When reiterated in successive scales, this same collaborative exchange of information yields macroscopic organisms as obligatory multicellular holobionts. Cognition-Based Evolution (CBE) upholds that assessment of information precedes biological action, and the deployment of information through integrative self-referential niche construction and natural cellular engineering antecedes selection. Therefore, evolutionary biology can be framed as a complex reciprocating interactome that consists of the assessment, communication, deployment and management of information by self-referential organisms at multiple scales in continuous confrontation with environmental stresses.
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Qiu GH, Yang X, Zheng X, Huang C. The eukaryotic genome is structurally and functionally more like a social insect colony than a book. Epigenomics 2017; 9:1469-1483. [PMID: 28972397 DOI: 10.2217/epi-2017-0059] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/27/2023] Open
Abstract
Traditionally, the genome has been described as the 'book of life'. However, the metaphor of a book may not reflect the dynamic nature of the structure and function of the genome. In the eukaryotic genome, the number of centrally located protein-coding sequences is relatively constant across species, but the amount of noncoding DNA increases considerably with the increase of organismal evolutional complexity. Therefore, it has been hypothesized that the abundant peripheral noncoding DNA protects the genome and the central protein-coding sequences in the eukaryotic genome. Upon comparison with the habitation, sociality and defense mechanisms of a social insect colony, it is found that the genome is similar to a social insect colony in various aspects. A social insect colony may thus be a better metaphor than a book to describe the spatial organization and physical functions of the genome. The potential implications of the metaphor are also discussed.
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Affiliation(s)
- Guo-Hua Qiu
- Fujian Provincial Key Laboratory for the Prevention & Control of Animal Infectious Diseases & Biotechnology, College of Life Sciences, Longyan University, Longyan 364012, Fujian, PR China
| | - Xiaoyan Yang
- Fujian Provincial Key Laboratory for the Prevention & Control of Animal Infectious Diseases & Biotechnology, College of Life Sciences, Longyan University, Longyan 364012, Fujian, PR China
| | - Xintian Zheng
- Fujian Provincial Key Laboratory for the Prevention & Control of Animal Infectious Diseases & Biotechnology, College of Life Sciences, Longyan University, Longyan 364012, Fujian, PR China
| | - Cuiqin Huang
- Fujian Provincial Key Laboratory for the Prevention & Control of Animal Infectious Diseases & Biotechnology, College of Life Sciences, Longyan University, Longyan 364012, Fujian, PR China
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