1 - Control Systems and Determination of Phenotypic Traits in Metazoans

Abstract

This chapter deals with the causal basis of evolution from an epigenetic view. It describes the organism as a generator of its own order rather than consumer of external negentropy. Within the field of the study of biological systems, the concept of information is used in different meanings. Biological information in metazoans consists of genetic information and epigenetic information. The genetic and epigenetic forms of information produce order at different levels of structural organization, at the molecular and at the supracellular level, respectively. At the organismic level, epigenetic mechanisms essentially involve activation of specific signal cascades in response to internal/external stimuli in the central nervous system (CNS). Physiological knowledge shows that the vital functions of all the organs and organ systems in higher invertebrates and vertebrates are controlled and regulated by the CNS. Modern physiology provides evidence on the CNS control of vital functions of all the organs and organ systems in animals, including heart work, blood circulation and pressure, respiration, digestion, and endocrine activity. To illustrate this, the study presents well-known examples of CNS control in homeostasis, including control of expression of nonhousekeeping genes in cells throughout the animal body. Metazoan organisms avoid structural and functional degradation and maintain their biological identity notwithstanding continual loss of their structural order at the molecular and cytological levels. In this regard, this chapter concludes by describing the integrated control system of the metazoans.