Some fundamentally new thinking in biology. A monumental attempt at a new synthesis - a new paradigm. Time will tell whether it really explains consciousness as "serial pre-adaptations based on cell–cell communication" (I think highly unlikely - consider the Hard Problem), and the intricate designs of life not as due to some form of ID, but as the result of "collaborative natural cellular engineering" (I also think highly unlikely). We don't know whether it will go somewhere.
The work is: "Cellular-Molecular Mechanisms in Epigenetic Evolutionary Biology", John Torday and William Miller Jr., at https://link.springer.com/content/pdf/bf...-2%2F1.pdf .
Chapter 1 Introduction
2 Darwin, the Modern Synthesis, and a New Biology
3 Cognition and the Living Condition
4 What is Consciousness? An Evolutionary Perspective
5 Networking from the Cell to Quantum Mechanics as Consciousness
6 The Nature of Information and Its Cmmunication
7 The Information Cycle and Biological Information Management
8 Communication and the Accumulation of Genetic Information
9 Non-Genic Means of Information Reception and Exchange
10 The Primacy of the Unicellular State
11 Phenotype, Niche Construction, and Natural Cellular Engineering
12 Holobionts
13 Four Domains: Cognition-Based Evolution
14 Reconciling Physics and Biology
15 Conclusion
A few highlights:
Chapter 4: What is Consciousness? An Evolutionary Perspective
The nature of consciousness has been debated for thousands of years. The perspective on evolution taken in this book, that it is serial pre-adaptations based on cell–cell communication, offers the opportunity to see consciousness as the sum total of our awareness of our physiology.
Chapter 8: Communication and Accumulation of Genetic Information
The genome is no longer considered a sacrosanct blueprint of the living form. Instead, a pluralistic approach through epigenetics and exogenetics is increasingly emphasized. The genome is now considered to be one consequential aspect of the informational interactome of the cell and its crucial cell–cell communications rather than a controlling agency. Transposable elements are substantial components of all modern genomes. They are one of the chief contributors to this informational interactome. Consequently, genetic material can now be assessed as (just) part of a common language of information transfer and communication among the cellular domains.
Chapter 11: Phenotype, Niche Construction, and Natural Cellular Engineering
In Darwinism, phenotype is a product of selection that emerges from random genetic variations. In cellular–molecular epigenetic evolution, the phenotype is the means by which the unicellular zygote acquires contemporary environmental information. That information becomes part of the cellular information cycle, which is expressed as the phenotype through collaborative natural cellular engineering and niche construction.
Chapter 15: What Does This Mean for Evolution?
Decades of debate have exposed numerous deficiencies in the standard Neo-Darwinian evolutionary narrative. In comparison, cognition-based evolution begins from the new vantage point of the primacy of the self-referential cognition embodied in all cells. It proceeds through self-referential cellular collaboration as natural cellular engineering and niche construction. It yields multicellular organisms that are really holobionts - combinations of personal cells and trillions of codependent, cooperative, and mutually competitive microorganisms - as collective life forms. Genes can now be properly understood as just part of the system - problem-solving tools of the cell. Selection is not an evolutionary driver, but serves an essential function as a consistent filter of cellular problem-solving to assure biological conformity with the environment.
Chapter 16: Conclusion
All biological and evolutionary development is governed by cellular faculties, limitations, and boundaries. Therefore, holobionic life can only be properly understood through its perpetual connection to its unicellular roots. Cellular–molecular evolution rests upon twin pillars of universal cellular cognition and continuous cell–cell communication among the four domains that constitute all life on the planet. The environment reciprocates in this elemental interplay through consistent epigenetic threads that assure life’s concordance with planetary realities.
The work is: "Cellular-Molecular Mechanisms in Epigenetic Evolutionary Biology", John Torday and William Miller Jr., at https://link.springer.com/content/pdf/bf...-2%2F1.pdf .
Chapter 1 Introduction
2 Darwin, the Modern Synthesis, and a New Biology
3 Cognition and the Living Condition
4 What is Consciousness? An Evolutionary Perspective
5 Networking from the Cell to Quantum Mechanics as Consciousness
6 The Nature of Information and Its Cmmunication
7 The Information Cycle and Biological Information Management
8 Communication and the Accumulation of Genetic Information
9 Non-Genic Means of Information Reception and Exchange
10 The Primacy of the Unicellular State
11 Phenotype, Niche Construction, and Natural Cellular Engineering
12 Holobionts
13 Four Domains: Cognition-Based Evolution
14 Reconciling Physics and Biology
15 Conclusion
A few highlights:
Chapter 4: What is Consciousness? An Evolutionary Perspective
The nature of consciousness has been debated for thousands of years. The perspective on evolution taken in this book, that it is serial pre-adaptations based on cell–cell communication, offers the opportunity to see consciousness as the sum total of our awareness of our physiology.
Chapter 8: Communication and Accumulation of Genetic Information
The genome is no longer considered a sacrosanct blueprint of the living form. Instead, a pluralistic approach through epigenetics and exogenetics is increasingly emphasized. The genome is now considered to be one consequential aspect of the informational interactome of the cell and its crucial cell–cell communications rather than a controlling agency. Transposable elements are substantial components of all modern genomes. They are one of the chief contributors to this informational interactome. Consequently, genetic material can now be assessed as (just) part of a common language of information transfer and communication among the cellular domains.
Chapter 11: Phenotype, Niche Construction, and Natural Cellular Engineering
In Darwinism, phenotype is a product of selection that emerges from random genetic variations. In cellular–molecular epigenetic evolution, the phenotype is the means by which the unicellular zygote acquires contemporary environmental information. That information becomes part of the cellular information cycle, which is expressed as the phenotype through collaborative natural cellular engineering and niche construction.
Chapter 15: What Does This Mean for Evolution?
Decades of debate have exposed numerous deficiencies in the standard Neo-Darwinian evolutionary narrative. In comparison, cognition-based evolution begins from the new vantage point of the primacy of the self-referential cognition embodied in all cells. It proceeds through self-referential cellular collaboration as natural cellular engineering and niche construction. It yields multicellular organisms that are really holobionts - combinations of personal cells and trillions of codependent, cooperative, and mutually competitive microorganisms - as collective life forms. Genes can now be properly understood as just part of the system - problem-solving tools of the cell. Selection is not an evolutionary driver, but serves an essential function as a consistent filter of cellular problem-solving to assure biological conformity with the environment.
Chapter 16: Conclusion
All biological and evolutionary development is governed by cellular faculties, limitations, and boundaries. Therefore, holobionic life can only be properly understood through its perpetual connection to its unicellular roots. Cellular–molecular evolution rests upon twin pillars of universal cellular cognition and continuous cell–cell communication among the four domains that constitute all life on the planet. The environment reciprocates in this elemental interplay through consistent epigenetic threads that assure life’s concordance with planetary realities.
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