The Touchstone of Life: Molecular Information, Cell Communication, and the Foundations of Life

Contents......Page 8
Acknowledgments......Page 14
Introduction......Page 16
PART ONE. INFORMATION AND THE ORIGINS OF LIFE......Page 20
Maxwell's Demon......Page 22
What Is Information?......Page 25
The Information-Entropy Trade-Off......Page 28
The Act of a Molecular Demon......Page 31
How the Molecular Demons in Organisms Gather Information......Page 32
Organisms Are Densely Packed with Information......Page 34
The Law that Rules It All......Page 35
The Universal Quartet of Forces and Its Soloist in Molecular Organization......Page 38
Origins......Page 41
The Elusive Wellspring of Information......Page 43
Debut of the Cosmic Quartet......Page 44
From Symmetric to Asymmetric Molecules......Page 47
The Advantages of Molecular Complementarity......Page 50
The Animated Moment: The Begetting of Information Circularity......Page 51
A Synoptic View of the Beginnings......Page 52
The Lively Twig of the Cosmic Tree......Page 53
The Missing Hand: A Phylogenetic Mystery......Page 55
The Hobson's Choice of Molecular Evolution......Page 58
Chance and Determinism......Page 59
The Retreat of Scientific Determinism: Deterministic Chaos......Page 61
The Randomness that Contains Information......Page 63
Molecular Organization from Chaos......Page 64
The New Alchemy and the First Stirrings in the Twiglet of the Cosmic Tree......Page 67
A Question of Time......Page 70
How to Pull the Information Rabbit from the Cosmic Hat......Page 73
A Simple Organic Genesis......Page 74
The Energy for Organizing Molecules with High-Information Content Must Be Supplied in Small Doses......Page 75
The Energy Flux Nursing Biomolecular Organization......Page 76
Light into Bonds into Information......Page 78
Slam-Bang Is No Substitute for Information......Page 80
The Molecular Jigs......Page 81
Information Is Transferred from Molecule to Molecule by Weak and Strong Electromagnetic Interactions......Page 84
Molecular Relays: The Foolproof Genies......Page 86
The Molecular Machines for Coherent Transfer of Information......Page 89
The Proteus Stuff......Page 90
Transmission of Information by Weak Forces Hinges on Goodness of Molecular Fit......Page 91
Weak Forces Are Good for Da Capos in Information Transfer: The Useful Nook in Interacting Atomic Fields......Page 92
Why Proteins Do Not Run Out of Wit......Page 93
The Recharging of the Protein Demons......Page 96
The Limits of Biological Demons and Demon Watchers......Page 97
How Sloppy Demons Save Information......Page 98
Chemical Performance Guides the Selection of Molecular Complementarity in the Laboratory of Evolution......Page 99
An Evolutionary Hypothesis of Conservative Selection......Page 100
An Evolutionary Thought Experiment......Page 101
The Why and Wherefore of the Conservative Selection......Page 107
The Principle of Evolutionary Information Economy......Page 108
Keeping Things in the Family of Adam and Eve Has Its Advantages......Page 111
The Vestiges of Ancient Information......Page 112
The First Commandment of Evolution......Page 113
Rolling Uphill......Page 114
The Basic Loop......Page 115
Why Mutations Don't Rub Off Folded Molecular Structures......Page 117
And Why They Rub Off Linear Structures......Page 118
Mutatis Mutandis......Page 120
Cybernetic Loops and the Mass Capture of Photon Information......Page 121
Natural Selection Is Not a Gentle Game......Page 122
The Garden of Eden......Page 123
The Oldest Circus on Earth......Page 127
PART TWO. INFORMATION FLOW INSIDE CELLS......Page 130
The Flip Sides of Information: Life's Two Realms......Page 132
The Two Major Information Streams......Page 134
The Quintessence of Conservation of Information: DNA......Page 136
The Information Subsidy for DNA Replication and Error Correction......Page 140
Information Is Pumped into DNA as It Leaks Out......Page 141
The Spooling of the Golden Thread......Page 142
Cells Know More Than They Let On......Page 143
DNA's Various Information Tiers......Page 144
The First-Tier Code......Page 146
The Genetic Code......Page 147
Transcription......Page 151
Splicing......Page 152
The Genie that Dances to Its Own Tune......Page 154
A Punishment that Fits the Crime......Page 156
How to Bridge the Information Gap......Page 157
Seek and Find......Page 159
How to Keep Molecular Information Broadcasts under Wraps......Page 160
The Virtues of Molecular Coherence......Page 161
The Transfiguration Called Biological Specificity......Page 162
The Maturing of Biological Communication......Page 163
How Biological Systems Break the Fetters of Quantum Chemistry......Page 164
The Creative Kaleidoscope......Page 165
The Paradox of the Progressive Reactionary......Page 167
What If the Cellular Information Stream Ran Backward?......Page 168
The Elusive Second Wheel of Change......Page 170
Can Organisms Promote Useful Mutations?......Page 171
Three Protein Designs for Tapping Positional Information from DNA......Page 173
What Do Proteins See Where They Plug into the DNA?......Page 175
If the Mountain Will Not Come to Mahomet . . .......Page 177
The Multiplex Adaptor......Page 178
Supramolecular Organization Out of Molecular Hum......Page 180
A Ledger for Supramolecular Information......Page 182
PART THREE. INFORMATION FLOW BETWEEN CELLS......Page 184
The End of the Cell Era: The Merger of Circuses......Page 186
The Innards of the Cell Membrane......Page 188
Strategies for Breaching the Membrane Barrier......Page 191
The Bare Bones of Intercellular Communication......Page 193
The Intercellular Communication Channels......Page 194
The Imperturbable Biological Signal Stuff......Page 197
"Nature's Sole Mistake"......Page 198
How to Get a Message Through a Noisy Channel: The Second Theorem......Page 200
The Virtues of Redundant Small Talk......Page 201
What Is a Code?......Page 203
Why There Are No Double-Entendres in Biological Communications......Page 205
The Question of the Origin of Natural Codes......Page 207
The Why and Wherefore of Encoding......Page 209
What Can We Learn from Game Theory?......Page 211
The Master Demons of Intercellular Communication......Page 213
The Game of Seek and Find in the Membrane......Page 215
The Communications Between Cells Are Lean in Information But Rich in Meaning......Page 216
How to Pull the Strings of a Cell......Page 217
Telecontrol......Page 218
The "Emanations from Organs"......Page 220
The Pervasive Messengers......Page 222
Tango à Trois......Page 223
The DNA Multiplex and Remote Gene Control......Page 226
The Rise of a Demon......Page 228
The Intercellular Functions of the DNA Multiplex......Page 229
Demons with an Esprit de Corps......Page 230
A Smoke Signal......Page 232
Cyclic AMP......Page 235
The Information Relays in the Cell Membrane......Page 237
The Alpha Demon......Page 239
The Alpha Merry-Go-Round......Page 240
The G-Show Libretto......Page 242
Crescendos......Page 244
The Cast of Characters......Page 245
Ion Channels as Maxwell Demons......Page 246
How to Make Signals from Informational Chicken Feed......Page 249
A Small Ion with Cachet: The Calcium Signal......Page 255
Signal Mopping: An Economical Cure for Cross Talk......Page 257
The Shoo-in Called Calcium......Page 260
A Streamlined G-Map......Page 261
T Junctions and Organismic Harmony......Page 262
Snapshots of Two T Demons......Page 264
The G-Pathway in Synopsis......Page 268
11 Intercellular Communication Cheek-by-Jowl......Page 269
Membrane Hot Spots: The Syncretic Communication Unit......Page 270
The Case for Syncretic Communication......Page 272
How Syncretic Information Flows......Page 274
The Information-Crossover Gambit......Page 276
Metamorphosis......Page 280
The Cell-to-Cell Channels......Page 282
How They Form......Page 283
How Cells Are Excommunicated and When......Page 287
How to Achieve Control in One's Birthday Suit......Page 289
The Channel Shutter......Page 290
A Channel Yin-Yang......Page 292
What Goes Through the Cell-Cell Channels......Page 293
Viewing the Signals Through the Looking Glass of Game Theory......Page 295
E Pluribus Unum......Page 297
The Regulation of Cellular Growth......Page 301
The Cellcosm-in-the-Dish......Page 304
How Do Cells Know Their Number?......Page 305
Parlez Vous Cellulaise?......Page 307
Where Canalicular Communication Holds the Trump Card......Page 308
A Model of Growth Control for Small Cell Populations......Page 309
A Model for Large Cell Populations......Page 312
Controls for Two Seasons......Page 315
λ Determines Cellular Growth......Page 316
What Is Cancer?......Page 317
λ Is Reduced in Cancer......Page 319
A Cancer Cure in the Test Tube......Page 320
Our First Line of Defense......Page 321
A Ray of Hope......Page 323
Neuronal Communication and Computation......Page 325
Consciousness......Page 328
Quantum Coherence......Page 330
Quantum Computations?......Page 333
Two Worlds Unbridged......Page 337
PART FOUR. THE SCIENCE OF THE PECULIAR......Page 342
14 How Can You Explain So Wise an Old Bird in a Few Words?......Page 344
The Mistress We Can Live Without......Page 345
The Arduous Minuet......Page 347
The Processing of Information Called Science......Page 348
The Limits of Scientific Knowledge......Page 350
Epilogue......Page 354
The Form-Giving Principle......Page 356
The Ripening of an Afterthought......Page 357
Recommended Reading......Page 360
References......Page 363
C......Page 379
D......Page 380
H......Page 381
M......Page 382
P......Page 383
S......Page 384
Z......Page 385