Cell Language Theory, The: Connecting Mind And Matter

210 The Cell Language Theory: Connecting Mind and Matter

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

has resigned oneself not to explain how these parts are made up of real

things, specifically, how these parts are made up of actual elementary

particles, or even of higher chemical molecules. One does not ask the

most intriguing, exciting, and important question of

(1) Why the molecules or aggregates which in nature really occur in

these parts are the sort of thing they are?

(2) Why they are essentially very large molecules in some cases but

large aggregates in other cases?

(3) Why they always lie in a range beginning at a few microns and

ending at a few decimeter?

This is a very peculiar range for an elementary object, since it is, even

on a linear scale, at least five powers of ten away from the sizes of

really elementary entities.” (The arrangement into a set of questions is

my addition.) (4.27)

It appears that Pattee’s theoretical work did not address the size-

related questions raised by von Neumann above. However, possible

answers may be formulated on the basis of the conformon theory of

molecular machines discussed in Section 3.4. The following are some of

the key ideas suggested by the conformon theory that may lead to answer-

ing the questions listed above:

(1) The ability for cells to self-replicate is encoded in a set of genes

numbering in the hundreds, if not thousands. It should be recalled

that the human cell contains approximately 23,000 structural genes

constituting only less than 3% of the total DNA mass. The timing of

the expression of these genes are controlled by regulatory genes pos-

tulated to be “encoded” in “non-coding” regions of DNA constituting

more than 90% of the DNA mass [7, 21, 23].

(2) The cell can be viewed as a “supramolecular machine” that is con-

structed out of a set of n molecular machines, mostly enzymes, but

including DNA and RNA (where n = 106 to 10^9 ?), each having a

diameter about 10^5 times as large as the diameter of atoms.

Interestingly, the diameter of the cell itself is about 10^5 times as

small as the diameter of the human body, suggesting that the cell

may possess the right physical size to mediate the world of atoms

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