Cell Language Theory, The: Connecting Mind And Matter

Introduction 7

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

in essence, posits that asymmetric distributions of ions and other diffusible

molecules across the cell membrane are attributable to selective ligand-

binding properties of proteins and associated structured water layers in

the cytosol and not to any pump (or ion channel) activities present in the

plasma membrane [3–5]. The concept of structured water layers formed

in the interface between proteins and bulk-phase liquid water, first

invoked as a logical consequence of AIH, seems to have been largely sub-

stantiated during the past two decades through the pioneering work of

Pollack and his associates [5], but the idea that membrane pumps play no

role in generating the asymmetric distributions of ions and other molecu-

lar species across cell membrane seems to go against the enormous

amount of experimental evidence now available. One solution to this long-

debated dilemma may be to recognize that there are two kinds of asym-

metric ion distributions — the equilibrium distribution advanced by AIH

and the dissipative distribution supported by the membrane pump hypoth-

esis, the former being an example of Prigogine’s equilibrium structures

and the latter his dissipative structures (see Section 2.6).

The diversity of the theoretical concepts originating in connection

with the conformon postulate in bioenergetics and bioinformatics evident

in Table 1.1 contrasts with the unity of AIH claiming to underlie all cell

functions [2].

1.2 Three Stages of Development of Human Knowledge

There appears to be three stages of development in human knowledge:

(i) gathering and describing of raw data, (ii) organizing data, and

(iii) constructing theories to account for the regularities embedded in

organized data. Some examples supporting this view are provided in Table

1.2, where the box located at D3 contains biological theories which are

predominantly those that the author has developed over the past four and

a half decades and do not include many other theories in the literature for

the sake of brevity.

1.3 Gaylord’s Distinction Between Physics and Biology

The American paleontologist Gaylord Simpson [716] stated something to

the effect that

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