A New Paradigm for Biology

Monty Craig Johnson, PhD   

Table of Contents

INTRODUCTION

PARADIGMS CENTERED ON MOLECULAR REACTIONS

PARADIGMS CENTERED ON INFORMATION IN BIOLOGIC SYSTEMS

THE EXISTENCE, ACTION AND MULTIPLICATION OF ALL LIFE FORMS IS DEPENDENT UPON COMPARTMENTALIZATION VIA MEMBRANES

EACH ENTITY OR SYSTEM, BOTH LIVING AND NONLIVING, IS SEEN AS BEING COMPOSED OF TWO GENERAL DIFFERENT KINDS OF SUBSYSTEMS, ALTHOUGH EACH CONSISTS OF SEVERAL DIFFERENT LEVELS OF COMPONENTS

THE FUNDAMENTAL DUAL CHARACTERISTICS OF REGULATORY AND STRUCTURAL ASPECTS FORM A HIERARCHY OF QUANTITATIVE AND QUALITATIVE DIFFERENCES AS ONE MOVE FROM THE ATOM TO MAN

REFERENCES

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

This represents work that I largely completed in 1979.   I had spent four years studying Unification Thought (the philosophical arm of Unification Theology), including one year teaching a course entitled "Science and the Divine Principle" at the Unification Church Theological Seminar in Barrytown, New York.   I have kept the paper all this time, taking it out occasionally to work on it with intention of submitting it for publication.   I hope that the ideas presented here will helpful in finding new ways to think about biology.   If you would like to discuss the topic or comment on the paper, please write me at: mocj@pacbell.net

INTRODUCTION

Biological research has been developing with great rapidity over the past 30 years.  United with modern electronic technology the structures and functions of life systems are being revealed.  So much has this kindled, that knowledge of biology has been brought to bear on problems of morality and sociology (Lewin, 1977 and Wilson, 1975).  However, these hopes may be somewhat premature since we see that biological science is apparently stymied in seeking solutions to a number of diseases, such as heart disease and cancer, as well as many inherited diseases, such as sickle cell anemia.  In addition, although we have developed many antibiotic and pesticides to control certain parts of the biological world, the emergence of resistant variants and nonspecific toxicity pose perils. 

"Medical science is in a predicament; it has the responsibility to find ways of reducing the amount of sickness and death that pervades our society.  Infections and nutritional diseases, the scourge of the nineteenth century, are now largely under control; but we are still left with the unchecked ravages of chronic diseases.  Medicine's existing ability to cope with these diseases is severely limited; most of the treatment offered is little more than palliation" (Goldblatt, 1977).  This statement by D.  P.  Goldblatt clearly expresses the present dilemma of medical research.  We continue to pour billions of dollars into medical and biological research and researchers continue to compile great mounds of data, while the solution(s) to many of societies’ problems that are related to biological science actually seem to be receding.  The more drugs and chemicals we discover and introduce into the global ecosystems the worse the situation becomes, almost everything - it seems - causes cancer or some other problem. 

We are also faced with great potential benefit or horror as the result of genetic engineering.  Biological research is in need of new models of nature and its development, a new set of biological paradigms that can open the way for further progress in research and help answer difficult ethical concerns. 

Most modern biology holds to an essentially materialistic view of life.  The origin of this view can be traced back to Galileo, Newton, Descartes, and others, who released the academic world from the restrictions of scholasticism.  This philosophy saw the real world as a material world in its totality and man was seen as a machine in a huge cosmic machine.  From a biological point of view, this materialistic model of the world was ushered in by the theory of evolution by natural selection developed by Darwin (Thorpe, 1966).  Advances in knowledge of the molecular aspects of life have been taken as evidence to strengthen the theory of evolution.  All of which has tended to justify the view of life as solely the result of physicochemical reactions.  This philosophy of biology amounts to reductionism, in which all characteristics of life are theoretically reducible to physics.  This is described by Marjorie Grene: "Reductivism has been tied to a peculiar and peculiarly abstract conception of the methods of science; to liberate ourselves from this strait jacket is to free ourselves also from the prejudice which insists that all the structures studied by science are one-leveled and particulate....  Only a new metaphysics....or a new epistemology will give us a radical cure for this unease" (Grene, 1974).  The issue of concern here is not the old mechanism-vitalism argument, it is rather universally agreed that the bodies of living systems are made of the same kind of matter as nonliving, and obeys physical laws; the question is only: do those physical laws state the sufficient as well as necessary conditions essential to the description and explanation of biological systems?

It might appear from the foregoing that biologic sciences are in the beginnings of a scientific revolution as described by T.  S.  Kuhn (Kuhn, 1970).  During the period he calls "normal Science" research is conducted and the results interpreted according the prevailing paradigms.  This current period for biology is based on the assumption that molecules arranged in appropriate complexes could and do give rise to life.  A scientific revolution occurs when one or more of the existing paradigms are found to be fundamentally incorrect.  Such a revolution took places in physics in the early part of this century.  The first indication of an imminent scientific revolution is an awareness of something that most of the scientific community feels should be explainable in terms of the prevailing paradigm, but which for one reason or another is not.  A second indication is the proliferation of principles and concepts that may or may not attain the status of paradigms (Jones, 1977).  The inability to satisfactorily explain and solve questions concerning the cause(s) of cancer is an example of the first factor, while the multitude of papers on new views of biology serve as examples of the second factor (Grant Watson, 1964; Grene, l974; Polanyi, 1976; Potter, 1970; Reiner, 1968; Weisskopf, 1977). 

It is the purpose of this paper to present a series of biological paradigms some of that are currently accepted as valid by the scientific community and others that are proposed for consideration.  It is hoped that this paper will help stimulate a critical review of our present view of biological systems as essentially one-leveled and lead to the adaptation of a view of life as an integration of multiple levels irreducible to and qualitatively different from physics.  An attempt will be made to disconnect, for the time being, biological paradigms from any particular theory of origination and to view life forms as they exist in the world as we know it. 

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PARADIGMS CENTERED ON MOLECULAR REACTIONS

Every living system is, in terms of chemistry, a community of molecules maintained in organized configurations and relationships and which individually obey physical-chemical laws.  These biochemicals undergo continual synthesis and degradation through successive small changes that give off or take up energy.  The structure of life is maintained in part by the continual input of energy from outside the biosystem that is used to convert small, simple molecules into macromolecules of higher levels of complexity and function.  The essential trick of using energy-giving reaction to drive energy-taking reactions is called energy coupling without which life would be impossible. 

Many of the chemical reactions that are observed inside cells in the normal course of their metabolic activity are inherently improbable and too slow to sustain life.  Except in living cells many of these reactions hardly, if ever, occur.  Enzymes are necessary to give the proper direction and required speed to the metabolic reactions.  Enzymes operate with a high degree of specificity in regard to the substrate with which they react and the product they produce.  Essentially all reactions in a living organism are mediated and controlled or regulated by enzymes.  The individual molecules of nearly every essential nutrient and metabolite are not predestined to be used in any specific way.  They are directed by enzymatic activity in varying proportions, dependent on the needs of the living system, to alternative divergent pathways to be used for either energy production or energy utilization (biosynthesis).  In addition, alternative converging pathways provide multiple routes for synthesis of many essential biochemical compounds. 

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PARADIGMS CENTERED ON INFORMATION IN BIOLOGIC SYSTEMS

All organisms at all hierarchical levels must store all the necessary information required for structure, function, and multiplication.  This information must not only be stored, but be put to use as required by the organism.  The information can, therefore, be said to have static (storage) and dynamic (usage) aspects.  This information storage takes places on three levels. 

1.    Relatively stable macromolecules such as DNA store information at the cellular level and are used according the central dogma of molecular biology (transcription and translation).

2. Networks of organs that communicate by means of special chemicals via body fluids such as the endocrine glands and their target organs store and transmit information at the level of organ systems. 

3. Relatively stable associations of communicating cells such as the central nervous system of higher organisms (animals and humans) store information, which is used via the peripheral nervous system and cranial nerves.

The current view of molecular biology sees these three informational levels as reducible to the informational content of DNA.  The view presented here is "that DNA evokes the ontogenesis of higher levels", rather than determining these levels (Polanyi, 1976).  The informational content of the higher levels is seen as the result of the integrative function of the respective system and to be qualitatively different from the lower levels. 

A living being must pass all the information necessary for life to its progeny if that species is to persist.  This information replication is accomplished at three levels. 

1.    Structural and functional information contained in genetic material is replicated and apportioned to progeny cells partly by Mendelian genetics and partly by other mechanisms.  This information is contained in nuclear and extra nuclear DNA molecules.

2.    Behavioral information is transmitted to progeny of higher animals by various teaching methods, the primary methods being instruction by bodily example.  For instance, the young wolves are taught the social behavior necessary for life in the wolf pack or wolf family by their parents as well as other adult members of the group.

3.    Intellectual information is transmitted to human progeny by means of spoken and written language. 

Each one of these levels is considered qualitatively different and higher-level organisms are seen to incorporate all the lower levels of information transmission as well as the mode characteristic to its own level.  As is the case with the other, hierarchical divisions presented in this paper the number of levels are incomplete and meant to indicate a general direction and not a final structure.  Surely further development of these hierarchies would be necessary by investigators in various fields of specialty. 

Even though the information systems in all life forms must be and are extremely stable in order to insure continued survival of any particular species.  There must also exist sufficient flexibility to adapt to changing environmental conditions.  Thus at all the previous designated levels of informational system there must exist a stable aspect and a dynamic or developmental aspect. 

There are two functional aspects to the informational content of the genetic material of an organism:

1.    An identity maintaining aspect, which is extremely stable, and resistant to mutation.

2.    An adaptive aspect that is relatively more variable, and is more susceptible to mutation. 

The levels of synthesis and/or release of chemical mediators which function in communication between cells and organs, such as hormones, exhibit two aspects of functional control:

1.    A homeostatic maintaining aspect that is relatively stable.

2.    An adaptive aspect initiating changes in response to environmental conditions. 

The information content of the central nervous system demonstrates similar dual characteristics of an identity or personality maintaining aspect and a developmental aspect that responds to the experiences of life. 

Every form of life has built in means by which it constantly reads its own performance in relation to its environment and regulates its physiological and/or psychological behavior within the limits set by its inherited and genetically established regulatory components.  This occurs on three major levels when the biological realm is viewed as a whole. 

Regulation of metabolic activity has been demonstrated or can be expected in both positive and negative forms at three levels: transcription of messenger RNA; translation of the mRNA; and at the level of enzymatic activity. 

Autonomic nervous systems and / or hormonal regulation of physiologic functions to maintain appropriate organ function in respect to the internal and external environment. 

Information received by the central nervous system can be used as a measure of the success of behavioral response stimulated by the interaction of the internal conditions of the organism and external factors.  This information can then by used to adjust subsequent behaviors. 

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THE EXISTENCE, ACTION AND MULTIPLICATION OF ALL LIFE FORMS IS DEPENDENT UPON COMPARTMENTALIZATION VIA MEMBRANES. 

The separation of molecular species by semi-permeable membranes or membranes of selective permeability provide the necessary gradients for energy production, biosynthesis of specific macromolecules, information maintenance and replication.  Membranes are just as necessary for life as is DNA.  However, even though each organism is dependent on the boundaries created by membranes for its individual existence, each individual is also totally dependent on other individual organisms.  Thus, the interactions within a bounding membrane which gives rise to life are dependently linked to the entire biosystem of the earth. 

While the previous "paradigms" are more or less in line with current models of biologic systems, the following ones are somewhat more original.  They are presented for consideration, are unavoidably stated in rather general terms, and are in need of further development. 

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EACH ENTITY OR SYSTEM, BOTH LIVING AND NONLIVING, IS SEEN AS BEING COMPOSED OF TWO GENERAL DIFFERENT KINDS OF SUBSYSTEMS, ALTHOUGH EACH CONSISTS OF SEVERAL DIFFERENT LEVELS OF COMPONENTS. 

The most fundamental subsystem is composed of an invisible, internal, subjective, directive regulatory characteristic and a visible, external, objective, responsive structural characteristic.  Here an analogy with a modern physics view of reality can be made.  This is the dualistic view of particulate and wave functions as being two characteristics of the same subatomic entity.  In a similar way, here beings are presented as being the integrated union of regulatory and structural characteristics.  These same dual characteristics may be described by the physical sciences as real and reciprocal space.  The development of the hierarchical levels of these dual characteristics, which in Korean are called sung-sang (regulatory) and hyung-sang (structural), is depicted in Figure 1.

Each of these fundamental dual characteristics carries as attributes a secondary subsystem composed of the integrated union of the dual characteristics of positivity and negativity, which in Chinese are called yang and yin.  The positive (yang) characteristic can be described as: subjective, active, and initiating.  In the realm of physics and chemistry, it can be seen as + charge, + spin of electrons, protons and cations, while in living forms it may manifest as the stamen aspect of plants, male in animals and man in humans.  The negative (yin) characteristics can be seen manifested in - charge, - spin of electrons, electrons and anions as well as the pistil aspect of plants, female in animals and woman in humans. 

The regulatory aspects of a being exist and function through the interaction of their positive and negative characteristics.  The structural aspects of a being also exist and function through the interaction of the positive and negative characteristics as depicted in Figure 2.  Both these sets of dual characteristics are seen to be reciprocal and complimentary pairs and to possess both static and dynamic qualities. 

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THE FUNDAMENTAL DUAL CHARACTERISTICS OF REGULATORY AND STRUCTURAL ASPECTS FORM A HIERARCHY OF QUANTITATIVE AND QUALITATIVE DIFFERENCES AS ONE MOVE FROM THE ATOM TO MAN. 

The lowest level indicated in Figure 1.  describes a small molecule structurally composed of atoms and regulatorally composed of physical-chemical laws.  The union of an internal, invisible directive nature and the external, visible functional form give rise to the totality of the fundamental subsystem of the small molecule.  Macromolecules, such as enzymes, indicated in the second column display a behavior qualitatively different from small molecules and which is intimately related to the tertiary structure of the macromolecule.  Therefore, a corresponding unique and distinct regulatory aspect, designated biochemical principles, has been added the physical-chemical laws.  Thus, the totality of the fundamental subsystem of an enzyme, for example, results from the interaction of and integration of these regulatory and structural aspects. 

In the third column is found genetic material that is composed of two complimentary macromolecules.  The type of information, function and behavioral characteristics of such a system are unique, when viewed as a whole.  The structural aspects of the genome can be considered the bearer of life and the regulatory aspect as the inner essence of life.  The integration and interaction of these two aspects form the fundamental subsystem of the "seed" of life.  A new level of regulatory character, designated biological principles, has been added which contains basic reason and consciousness.  Just as the ink used to print the letters on this page is composed of chemicals obeying physical-chemical laws, the individual nucleotides of DNA are obeying those same laws.  However, the information contained in the specific sequencing of either the letters of the nucleotides is the manifestation of a qualitatively different level of regulatory characteristic. 

Similar development occurs as one moves up the hierarchy with each new level exhibiting some unique regulatory and structural characteristic.  At each level, the individual can be viewed as a system consisting of the integrated interaction of all the levels of regulatory and structural characteristics within that level.  In humans, these two fundamental characteristics are collectively referred to as mind and body or spirit and body. 
 

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REFERENCES

Caldwell, D.E and J.W.  Costerton.  1996.  Are bacterial biofilms constrained to Darwin's concept of evolution through natural selection? Microbiologia SEM 12:347-358. 

Copeland, D.D.  1977.  Concepts of Disease and Diagnosis.  Perspectives in Biology and Medicine 20:528-538. 

Goldblatt, D.  P.  1977.  Modern medicine's shortcomings: can we really conquer disease? Perspectives in Biology and Medicine 21:451-456. 

Gordon, A.  1970.  Natural selection and the origin of life.  Perspectives in Biology and Medicine 14:109-126. 

Grene, M.  1974.  Reducibility: another side issue? Boston Studies in the Philosophy of Science.  23:53-73.  D.  Reidel, Boston. 

Hamburg, M.  and L.A.  Mendoza.  1976.  Biology and ethics.  Perspectives in Biology and Medicine 19:198-211. 

Hausman, B.  1975.  What is natural? Perspectives in Biology and Medicine 19:92-100. 

Jerman, I.  and A.  Stern.  1996.  The gene in waves: the forming of new biology.  Nauurwetpartij.  Available online:

Jones, D.D.  1977.  Entropic models in biology: the next scientific revolution? Perspectives in Biology and Medicine 21:285-299. 

Kuhn, T.  S.  1970.  The structure of scientific revolutions.  University of Chicago Press, Chicago. 

Medawar, P.  1975.  Scientific method in science and medicine.  Perspectives in Biology and Medicine 18:345-352. 

Potter, V.R.  1970.  Biothics, the science of survival.  Perspectives in Biology and Medicine 14:127-153. 

Ratcliff, J.  D.  1971.  Lives and Dollars, Freeport Press, NY. 

Reiner, J.M.  1968.  The organism as an adaptive control system.  Prentice-Hall, N.J. 

Scarlett, E.P.  and C.  G.  Roland.  1972.  In Sickness and in Health.  McClelland & Steward, Canada. 

Selye, H.  1967.  In vivo: the case for supramolecular biology.  Liveright Publishing Corp., NY. 

Sperry, R.W.  1972.  Science and the problems of values.  Perspectives in Biology and Medicine 16:115-130. 

Weisskopf, V.F.  1977.  The frontiers and limits of science.  American Scientist.  65:405-411. 

Grant Watson, E.L.  1977.  The mystery of physical life.  Abelard-Schulman, London. 

Lewin, T.S.  1970.  American Scientist.  65694-696. 
 

Figure 1.  This diagram outlines the hierarchical levels in the fundamental dual characteristics of the REGULATORY ASPECTS and STRUCTURAL ASPECTS of beings ranging from a prokaryote (1) to a human (5).  This obviously simplistic and many more levels could be developed.

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Figure 2. 
The interaction of the yin (negative) and yang (positive) characteristics of both the mind (regulatory) and body (structural) aspects of a being is necessary for existence and function of that being.  In others words, the interaction the negative and positive parts of the mind allow for the existence and function of the mind. Similarly, the yin/yang interaction of the body allows for its' existence and function. And the interaction of the mind and body provides the existence and function of the whole organism.  Both these sets of dual characteristics are reciprocal and complimentary pairs and to possess both static and dynamic qualities. 
 

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