Cell Language Theory, The: Connecting Mind And Matter

Key Terms and Concepts 37

“6x9” b2861 The Cell Language Theory: Connecting Mind and Matter

of what Ling called “induction”. If this interpretation is right, Ling’s

concepts of association and induction may be considered as closely

related to the theory of ligand­induced conformation changes of pro­

teins or allosterism proposed by Monod et al. [103], (see also Section

3.2.10).

Apparently it was Ling in the early 1960s [1] who, as a logical conse­

quence of his AIH, first postulated that water molecules inside the living

cell are not free and randomly distributed as then (and even now) widely

thought but mostly organized into polarized layers as a result of binding

to (or being “associated” with) charged groups on proteins. AIH has many

aspects, some of them being highly controversial (e.g., the denial of the

role of the membrane pumps in the asymmetric distribution of ions across

cell membrane [105]), resulting in the wholesale rejection of AIH by

many contemporary biologists [107].

It is interesting to note that the question of whether or not the

asymmetric distribution of ions across the cell membrane can be accounted

for entirely based on AIH is still debated among biologists [3, 108]. The

available evidence indicates to me that the asymmetric ion (and other sol­

ute) distributions across biomembranes result from a combination of both

passive distributions driven by ion binding to proteins (in agreement with

AIH) and active distributions driven by ATP­dependent specific ion pumps

embedded in biomembranes (in disagreement with AIH) and that the for­

mer can be identified with equilibrium structures and the latter with dis-

sipative structures of Prigogine (see Section 2.6). Despite this seeming

deficiency, I think AIH has made a major theoretical contribution to estab­

lishing the idea that the water molecules inside the living cell may be

organized in a dynamic manner essential for carrying out the basic func­

tions of living cells. This view seems to have gained indirect support from

recent experimental findings (e.g., the discovery of the fourth phase of

water [108] and water memory [109]) and the concept of “coherence

domains” in water predicted by quantum field theory [110, 365].

2.13 The Fourth-Phase Water

It appears that Pollack and his coworkers [5, 108, 111] have discovered

a new phase of water, i.e., the fourth phase after the solid, liquid, and

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