BiosystemsPub Date : 2025-01-01DOI: 10.1016/j.biosystems.2024.105387
William B. Miller Jr. , František Baluška , Arthur S. Reber , Predrag Slijepčević
{"title":"Biological mechanisms contradict AI consciousness: The spaces between the notes","authors":"William B. Miller Jr. , František Baluška , Arthur S. Reber , Predrag Slijepčević","doi":"10.1016/j.biosystems.2024.105387","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.biosystems.2024.105387","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>The presumption that experiential consciousness requires a nervous system and brain has been central to the debate on the possibility of developing a conscious form of artificial intelligence (AI). The likelihood of future AI consciousness or devising tools to assess its presence has focused on how AI might mimic brain-centered activities. Currently, dual general assumptions prevail: AI consciousness is primarily an issue of functional information density and integration, and no substantive technical barriers exist to prevent its achievement. When the cognitive process that underpins consciousness is stipulated as a cellular attribute, these premises are directly contradicted. The innate characteristics of biological information and how that information is managed by individual cells have no parallels within machine-based AI systems. Any assertion of computer-based AI consciousness represents a fundamental misapprehension of these crucial differences.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":50730,"journal":{"name":"Biosystems","volume":"247 ","pages":"Article 105387"},"PeriodicalIF":2.0,"publicationDate":"2025-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142907907","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
IF 2 4区 生物学
BiosystemsPub Date : 2025-01-01DOI: 10.1016/j.biosystems.2024.105377
BiosystemsPub Date : 2025-01-01DOI: 10.1016/j.biosystems.2024.105373
Branko Dragovich, Elena Fimmel, Andrei Khrennikov, Nataša Ž. Mišić
{"title":"Modeling the origin, evolution, and functioning of the genetic code","authors":"Branko Dragovich, Elena Fimmel, Andrei Khrennikov, Nataša Ž. Mišić","doi":"10.1016/j.biosystems.2024.105373","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.biosystems.2024.105373","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":50730,"journal":{"name":"Biosystems","volume":"247 ","pages":"Article 105373"},"PeriodicalIF":2.0,"publicationDate":"2025-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142792718","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
BiosystemsPub Date : 2025-01-01DOI: 10.1016/j.biosystems.2024.105384
Marko Vitas , Andrej Dobovišek
{"title":"A possible origin of life in nonpolar environments","authors":"Marko Vitas , Andrej Dobovišek","doi":"10.1016/j.biosystems.2024.105384","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.biosystems.2024.105384","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Explaining the emergence of life is perhaps the central and most challenging question in modern science. We are proposing a new hypothesis concerning the origins of life. The new hypothesis is based on the assumption that during the emergence of life, evolution had to first involve autocatalytic systems which only subsequently acquired the capacity of genetic heredity. Additionally, the key abiotic and early biotic molecules required in the formation of early life, like cofactors, coenzymes, nucleic bases, prosthetic groups, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), some pigments, etc. are poorly soluble in aqueous media. To avoid the latter concentration problem, the new hypothesis assumes that life could have emerged in the nonpolar environments or low water systems, or at the interphase of the nonpolar and polar water phase, from where it was subsequently transferred to the aqueous environment. To support our hypothesis, we assume that hydrocarbons and oil on the Earth have abiotic origins.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":50730,"journal":{"name":"Biosystems","volume":"247 ","pages":"Article 105384"},"PeriodicalIF":2.0,"publicationDate":"2025-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142900076","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
BiosystemsPub Date : 2025-01-01DOI: 10.1016/j.biosystems.2024.105380
Sang-Hee Lee, Cheol-Min Park
{"title":"Ecological drivers for the absence of task shifting in termite-tunneling activity: A simulation study","authors":"Sang-Hee Lee, Cheol-Min Park","doi":"10.1016/j.biosystems.2024.105380","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.biosystems.2024.105380","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Subterranean termites build complex underground tunnel networks to efficiently gather food. Empirical observations indicate specific individuals are dedicated to tunneling, rarely interchanging tasks. However, considering the limited tunneling energy of termite populations, it is reasonable to expect regular task shifts between fatigued and rested individuals to maintain continuous tunneling and optimize foraging. To explore this disparity, we developed a sophisticated individual-based model simulating the termite tunneling process in two scenarios: one with task shifting and one without. In the task shift scenario, the initial group of termites excavates the tunnel, expends all their energy, and returns to the nest. A new group is then deployed to the tunnel tip to continue the excavation, collectively creating the final tunnel pattern. In the no task shift scenario, the initial group completes the tunneling without transitioning to subsequent groups. We compared the tunnel patterns of these two scenarios, focusing on tunnel directionality and size. The comparison revealed statistically no significant difference in tunnel directionality between the scenarios. However, the tunnel size was notably larger in the absence of task shift, suggesting that continuous tunneling without task shift may enhance food searching efficiency. In the discussion section, we briefly address the limitations of the model arising from differences between the simulations and actual termite systems. Additionally, we touch on the idea to explain the fact that only a fixed proportion of workers in a termite colony participate in tunneling activities.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":50730,"journal":{"name":"Biosystems","volume":"247 ","pages":"Article 105380"},"PeriodicalIF":2.0,"publicationDate":"2025-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142824601","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
BiosystemsPub Date : 2025-01-01DOI: 10.1016/j.biosystems.2024.105382
Massimo Di Giulio
{"title":"The genetic code is not universal","authors":"Massimo Di Giulio","doi":"10.1016/j.biosystems.2024.105382","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.biosystems.2024.105382","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Recently, a new genetic code with 62 sense codons, coding for 21 amino acids, and only 2 termination codons has been identified in archaea. The authors argue that the appearance of this variant of the genetic code is due to the relatively recent and complete recoding of all UAG stop codons to codons encoding for pyrrolysine. I re-evaluate this discovery by presenting arguments that favour the early, i.e. ancestral, appearance of this variant of the genetic code during the origin of the genetic code itself. These arguments are capable of supporting that during the origin of the organization of the genetic code, at least two versions of the genetic code evolved in the domain of the Archaea. Thus, the genetic code would not be absolutely universal.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":50730,"journal":{"name":"Biosystems","volume":"247 ","pages":"Article 105382"},"PeriodicalIF":2.0,"publicationDate":"2025-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142856524","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
BiosystemsPub Date : 2025-01-01DOI: 10.1016/j.biosystems.2024.105383
A.V. Melkikh
{"title":"The problem of evolutionary directionality 50 years following the works of Sergei Meyen","authors":"A.V. Melkikh","doi":"10.1016/j.biosystems.2024.105383","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.biosystems.2024.105383","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":50730,"journal":{"name":"Biosystems","volume":"247 ","pages":"Article 105383"},"PeriodicalIF":2.0,"publicationDate":"2025-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142873369","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
BiosystemsPub Date : 2025-01-01DOI: 10.1016/j.biosystems.2024.105378
David Lynn Abel
{"title":"“Assembly Theory” in life-origin models: A critical review","authors":"David Lynn Abel","doi":"10.1016/j.biosystems.2024.105378","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.biosystems.2024.105378","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Any homeostatic protometabolism would have required orchestration of disparate biochemical pathways into integrated circuits. Extraordinarily specific molecular assemblies were also required at the right time and place. Assembly Theory conflated with its cousins—Complexity Theory, Chaos theory, Quantum Mechanics, Irreversible Nonequilibrium Thermodynamics and Molecular Evolution theory— collectively have great naturalistic appeal in hopes of their providing the needed exquisite steering and controls. They collectively offer the best hope of circumventing the need for active selection required to formally orchestrate bona fide formal organization (as opposed to the mere self-ordering of chaos theory) (Abel and Trevors, 2006b). This paper focuses specifically on AT's contribution to naturalistic life-origin models.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":50730,"journal":{"name":"Biosystems","volume":"247 ","pages":"Article 105378"},"PeriodicalIF":2.0,"publicationDate":"2025-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142878459","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
BiosystemsPub Date : 2025-01-01DOI: 10.1016/j.biosystems.2024.105381
Thomas Lissek
{"title":"Cancer memory as a mechanism to establish malignancy","authors":"Thomas Lissek","doi":"10.1016/j.biosystems.2024.105381","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.biosystems.2024.105381","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Cancers during oncogenic progression hold information in epigenetic memory which allows flexible encoding of malignant phenotypes and more rapid reaction to the environment when compared to purely mutation-based clonal evolution mechanisms. Cancer memory describes a proposed mechanism by which complex information such as metastasis phenotypes, therapy resistance and interaction patterns with the tumor environment might be encoded at multiple levels via mechanisms used in memory formation in the brain and immune system (e.g. single-cell epigenetic changes and distributed state modifications in cellular ensembles). Carcinogenesis might hence be the result of physiological multi-level learning mechanisms unleashed by defined heritable oncogenic changes which lead to tumor-specific loss of goal state integration into the whole organism. The formation of cancer memories would create and bind new levels of individuality within the host organism into the entity we call cancer. Translational implications of cancer memory are that cancers could be engaged at higher organizational levels (e.g. be “trained” for memory extinction) and that compounds that are known to interfere with memory processes could be investigated for their potential to block cancer memory formation or recall. It also suggests that diagnostic measures should extend beyond sequencing approaches to functional diagnosis of cancer physiology.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":50730,"journal":{"name":"Biosystems","volume":"247 ","pages":"Article 105381"},"PeriodicalIF":2.0,"publicationDate":"2025-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142865877","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}