Biological Self-Organisation by Way of the Dynamics of Reactive Processes

Abstract

The physical-chemical processes by which order and form spontaneously develop in an initially largely unstructured biological object, such as an egg or a seed, remain uncertain. At present, there are two quite different approaches that may account for biological self-organisation and pattern formation. One approach: that based upon static interactions between non-reacting species is outlined in another chapter of this book (see the introduction, Chap. 1, and Chap. 4 on liquid crystals). In the other approach, which is the subject of this chapter, self-organisation develops by way of the non-linear dynamics of reactive processes. Because in most cases, solutions of reacting chemicals or biochemicals in a test-tube do not self-organise, it was for a long time believed that the dynamics of reactive processes could not result in self-organisation.