A systems view of biological health
This work is licensed under
CC BY-SA 4.0
: also see my full Copyright statement.
The body contains innumerable examples of evolutionary optimisation that
are far beyond our current technology to match or duplicate.
Parts of the workings of living organisms are so efficient that human-made
devices will probably never equal them. To give just a verysmall
number of examples[1]:
-
Rotational flagella are powered by a motor that is almost
100% efficient, whose structure contains just a dozen
protein building-blocks; and which is literally a rotary
engine with a clutch that allows for two different
directions of motion. The clutch plates drive the motor,
and so the number of plates can also be varied to produce more
torque.
-
The universal use of twisted proteins in biology allows for
the almost 100% efficient transfer of high energy
electrons. Chirality
[2]
of organic molecules allows energy transfer efficiency of 100% (!)
[3] due
to quantum effects and is – so far as we know – universal
across all forms of life.
-
Symbiosis is also based on efficiency. It is costly to
carry round, check and maintain DNA, so what tends to
happen across the entire swathe of Life (with some
interesting exceptions) is that superfluous DNA is
discarded. The human microbiome (that has accompanied us for tens
of millions of years) produces on our behalf : Vitamin K, most
water-soluble B Vitamins, a range of anti-inflammatory compounds and
short-chain fatty acids and about 70% of endogenous serotonin.
-
Nothing is ever wasted, and most (if not all) biological
structures have at least 2 or 3 functions – a principle
exemplified by neural synapses, which allow nerves to
communicate simultaneously in several complementary ways at
different frequencies – and so participate in multiple
parallel layers of communication. Mainstream biophysics
(and even neurology) recognises most of these processes,
but fails to grasp the implications of multiplexed
communication in living systems, and so remains stuck in a "one
component, one mechanism" model of the body. The body is
therefore mistakenly viewed in the same way as
one-component-one-function human-made devices – which actually
operate on a simplified and limited subset of the rules that sustain
and govern living organisms.
Although it is possible to think of homeostasis as being something relatively static, in fact it is an expression of continuous dynamic conversations and responses that has no absolute resting state to return back to. A stationary unicyclist is a good analogy. The unicyclist is constantly adjusting her balance by means of rapid micromovements that generate impossibly small (sub-conscious) changes in balance and orientationThe first act of forwards motion is one of loss of control - literally falling in that direction. Although this falling appears to be more significant than stasis, in reality it requires far less control - because it is less universally adaptive, and because the control to produce it was already inherent in the control before the falling began. So from a biological and homeostatic point of view, of all possible macro-activities stillness requires the greatest degree of internal self-regulatory micro-activity. And the balanced state of (apparent) stillness embodies the greatest potential (energy) for adaptation and response (lability). Technically speaking, all macro-states of change incur a penalty of inertia, and are therefore inevitably less adaptive. This seemingly topsy-turvy arrangement is a direct analogy to social immobilisation or the startle response, in which the immobilisation might appear externally calm and neutral, but in fact the homeostatic mechanisms underpinning it are more active and potentised and are open to a wider range of possibility than in any other state, and are "waiting" to detect an optimum direction of motion. Simply, a living organism that has temporarily stopped moving and entered any form of stillness is asking the questions :
"... What now? ... and Where? ..."
with every atom of its being. Thus, (rather counter-intuitively) inhibition is the primary means of control in all living organisms. And Where is critical because all responses ultimately end up as movement, and purposeful motion requires a direction.
1 A nice
example of self-referential optimisation is the road system in
a pre-industrial landscape. Unused footpaths and roads rapidly
become overgrown,. So keeping a road open requires both a lot of
footfall and a certain amount of regular scrub clearance. The
number and size of roads and footpaths is therefore dependent on the
size of community it is serving the amount of traffic and trade, the
wealth that trade generates (because people generally have to be
paid to keep several tens or even hundreds of miles of road free of
annual vegetation growth). The active and therefore open routes
will therefore self-optimise over time. For smaller traffic, it
would be custom to just walk across the fields and through woods,
following farmers tracks and animal paths. All that organic
self-organisation disappeared and became fossilised when we put tar
surfaces down and started trimming hedges with lawnmowers wielded by
tractors.. Humans (and animals) and landscape have always
interacted in this synergistic manner, and many features of the
modern landscape we live in are a result of tens of thousands of
years of interaction. Water (springs, streams and rivers, marshes)
and soil types (mechanical properties and fertility) are particular
drivers that affect all vegetation, animal behaviour and human
habitation. Reliable sources of fresh water from springs were
particularly important. Rivers also formed both boundaries and
trade routes.
3 The spiral
shape of proteins creates a pathway for electron transport that
will carry electrons with one spin direction more easily than
electrons with the opposite spin, so maybe there are biological
functions for spin polarisation (chirality): "The
photosynthetic machinery produces high energy electrons that should
quickly react with other atoms within the complex. However, because
of the unique [spiral] molecular structure and quantum properties of
biomolecules within the living system, the high energy electrons are
transferred with 100% efficiency within the photosynthetic core.
This is the opposite result of what was expected from physicists,
who generally regards the cell as a disorganized, chaotic
environment that should be wholly inhospitable to maintaining
quantum states. However, because of the unique structure of
biomolecules ... the cellular machinery is observed to be able to
transmit high energy electrons with 100% efficiency---a level of
efficiency usually only seen in superconductors." Olivier
Alirol (2019) Nature’s effective way of conducting electrons.
Resonance Science Foundation.
https://resonance.is/natures-effective-way-of-conducting-electrons/
