Is Organization of Living Systems Explained by Probability?

Abstract

Traditionally, life has been thought improbable without assuming a special principle, such as vital power. Here, I try to understand organization of living systems in terms of a more rational and materialistic notion. I have introduced the notion of inhomogeneity, which is a novel interpretation of “negentropy”, and equivalent to “bound information”, according to the probabilistic interpretation of entropy. Free energy of metabolites is a labile inhomogeneity, whereas genetic information is a more stable inhomogeneity. Dynamic emergence can result from the conflict between two inhomogeneities, one labile and another stable, just like dialectic synthesis results from the conflict between thesis and antithesis. Life is a special type of dynamic emergence, which is coupled with reproduction mediated by genetic information. Biological membrane formation is taken as an example to formulate self-organization of biological systems through dynamic emergence. This system is ultimately driven by the Sun/Earth temperature difference, and is consistent with an increase in probability in the world. If we consider all entropy production related to life, such as degradation of materials and death of organisms, and ultimately the cooling of the Sun, probability always increases with the progress of living systems.