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Centuries ago, scientists began reducing the physics of the universe into a few, key laws described by a handful of parameters. Such simple descriptions have remained elusive for complex biological systems -- until now.
Emory biophysicist Ilya Nemenman has identified parameters for several biochemical networks that distill the entire behavior of these systems into simple equivalent dynamics. The discovery may hold the potential to streamline the development of drugs and diagnostic tools, by simplifying the research models.
The resulting paper, now available online, will be published in the March issue of Physical Biology.
"It appears that the details of the complexity of these biological systems don't matter, as long as some aggregate property, which we've calculated, remains the same," says Nemenman, associate professor of physics and biology. He conducted the analysis with Golan Bel and Brian Munsky of the Los Alamos National Laboratory.
The simplicity of the discovery makes it "a beautiful result," Nemenman says. "We hope that this theoretical finding will also have practical applications."
He cites the air molecules moving about his office: "All of the crazy interactions of these molecules hitting each other boils down to a simple behavior: An ideal gas law. You could take the painstaking route of studying the dynamics of every molecule, or you could simply measure the temperature, volume and pressure of the air in the room. The second method is clearly easier, and it gives you just as much information."
Originally posted by masonicon
reply to post by predator0187
Simplification is good, but if this taken to extreme this can be bad
Originally posted by garritynet
Originally posted by masonicon
reply to post by predator0187
Simplification is good, but if this taken to extreme this can be bad
Did you read his paper? Do you have a specific reason why this is bad? Can you tell me a little more about his research since you know so much about it?
Minimum dissipation means in one sense that energy (as well as material) going into the system is used many times over before it is exported to the outside. Intuitively, one can see that the more complex the dynamical structure, the more cycles there are, the longer the energy remains in the system, and the least amount is dissipated. In other words, increase in space-time differentiation leads to increase in the energy that can be stored in the system.
Let me highlight the hallmarks of the quantum coherent organism that contrasts with the conventional view of organisms as machines (From Molecular Machines to Coherent Organism, ISIS scientific publication) [12]. The organism is an incredible hive of activities from the very fast to the very slow, the local to global, all perfectly coupled together, so perfect that each activity appears to be operating as freely and spontaneously as the whole. To be quantum coherent above all, is to be most spontaneous and free. The wave function that describes the system is also a superposition of all possibilities. It implies that the future is entirely open, and the potentials infinite [2, 12].
Originally posted by masonicon
Originally posted by garritynet
Originally posted by masonicon
reply to post by predator0187
Simplification is good, but if this taken to extreme this can be bad
Did you read his paper? Do you have a specific reason why this is bad? Can you tell me a little more about his research since you know so much about it?
How About Scientific McDonaldization?
Originally posted by masonicon
reply to post by predator0187
Over-Simplification is still bad for our health