A MODEL SIMULATING SOME PROPERTIES OF LIVING MATTER: A CONTRIBUTION IN ABSTRACT BIOLOGY.

Abstract

A MODEL SIMULATING SOME PROPERTIES OF LIVING MATTER: A CONTRIBUTION IN ABSTRACT BIOLOGY RICHARD D. BALDWIN, M.D.* Biological problems are regarded with optimistic expectancy today. Recent developments which have contributed to this sanguine attitude include automation, which frees men for research and contributes to the wealth for their support and to the availability ofresearch tools; the technological developments in instrumentation; and recent discoveries which have in part depended upon the foregoing. Another important development is the attention being focused on biology by the more quantitativetheoretic disciplines. Thus far this interweaving has been largely in instrumentation and research tools, e.g., radioactive isotopes, chromatography, and electron microscopy—major contributions in themselves. Inasmuch as they serve to instruct the biologist in the building ofabstract "ideal" models, the physical sciences hold an even greater potential contribution. One distinction between the biological and the physical sciences is the relative importance the two disciplines have placed upon developing such abstract models. Biology has developed two outstanding abstractions, one due to Darwin and the other to Mendel. Each has given man penetrating insight into ontology. In an era when observational data of a most refined sort are amassing at an unprecedented rate, it is important that such data be consistent with an abstract theory or model which makes them comprehensible. A model which mimics living matter is offered here. Our concept of living matter may be enhanced ifwe can learn how closely it does this. What properties distinguish living matter has been a question ofsporadic concern to the biochemist, but it is ofcentral biological importance. No entirely satisfactory answer has been formulated. Thus far, the properties ofenergy utilization, elimination ofwaste products, sensitivity to stimuli, * ? Montgomery Road, Sktllman, NewJersey. 219 growth, reproduction, cellular organization, and a vague integration of complex systems have served as indices oflife. The problem addressed here is whether these characteristics yield to a lesser number of more basic properties or conditions which can account for the characteristics outlined. The two conditions chosen are (a) that the given matter exist in an unstable energy state and (b) that the matter exhibit growth. Matter endowed with both these properties would be said to be alive, regardless ofwhether or not it was cellularly organized. Therefore , a model is created which exhibits these properties. Is it alive? That depends very much upon our definition ofthis term, which is presently inadequate. The model is an abstraction, a speculative grasp at ontology, crude and oversimplified, and offered as nothing more than a starting point. It raises important questions and suggests a research area with intriguing possibilities. Initially, I will clarify what is meant by an unstable equilibrium. A system is said to be unstable ifit possesses energy greater than a lower, more stable value and is imminently likely to assume the lesser energy state. Perhaps living matter exists in unstable equilibrium, tending always to decompose , but undergoing continuous repair, thus being returned to the unstable state. Such a scheme is consistent with the association ofenergy utilization and life. Such an unstable equilibrium would be susceptible to displacement by environmental alterations, thereby mimicking sensitivity or irritability. Further, we can see that in death the ex-living matter spontaneously decomposes to a stable state. A system in unstable equilibrium tends to fall to a lower energy level. To assume for the moment the existence ofmatter in this state (which I designate as living matter), this situation could be diagrammed as follows (see Fig. i): (spontaneously) Living substance ---------------> Altered living substance + Energy ; (1) (spontaneously) Altered living substance ---------------> Nonliving substance -f- Energy . (2) How could such a series ofevents be compensated for? Either by manufacturing new living substance and/or by reversing the first reaction. Both require energy. We will return to these reactions shortly. Now to define growth. When we speak ofthe growth ofanything we imply continuity or integrity. On a molecular level, growth might be in220 Richard D. Baldwin · A Model Simulating Properties ofLiving Matter Perspectives in Biology and Medicine · Winter 1964 terpreted as an increasing concentration ofsolute molecules, but, conventionally , growth is an increase in the amount ofliquid- or solid-state matter . A crystal grows, so to speak, from a supersaturate solution, but the converse situation in which a...