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In This Thought-Provoking Book, Denis Noble Formulates the Theory Of Cambridge University Press 978-1-107-17624-9 — Dance to the Tune of Life Denis Noble Frontmatter More Information DANCE TO THE TUNE OF LIFE BIOLOGICAL RELATIVITY In this thought-provoking book, Denis Noble formulates the theory of biological rel- ativity, emphasising that living organisms operateatmultiplelevelsofcomplexityand must therefore be analysed from a multi-scale, relativistic perspective. Noble explains that all biological processes operate by means of molecular, cellular and organismal networks. The interactive nature of these fundamental processes is at the core of bio- logical relativity and, as such, challenges simpliied molecular reductionism. Noble shows that such an integrative view emerges as the necessary consequence of the rig- orous application of mathematics to biology. Drawing on his pioneering work in the mathematical physics of biology, he shows that what emerges is a deeply humane pic- ture of the role of the organism in constraining its chemistry, including its genes, to serve the organism as a whole, especially in the interaction with its social environ- ment. This humanistic, holistic approach challenges the common gene-centred view held by many in modern biology and culture. Denis Noble is Emeritus Professor of Cardiovascular Physiology and Director of Computational Physiology at the University of Oxford, UK. He is the current President of the International Union of Physiological Sciences and a Fellow of the Royal Society. © in this web service Cambridge University Press www.cambridge.org Cambridge University Press 978-1-107-17624-9 — Dance to the Tune of Life Denis Noble Frontmatter More Information DANCE TO THE TUNE OF LIFE BIOLOGICAL RELATIVITY Denis Noble The University of Oxford, UK © in this web service Cambridge University Press www.cambridge.org Cambridge University Press 978-1-107-17624-9 — Dance to the Tune of Life Denis Noble Frontmatter More Information University Printing House, Cambridge cb2 8bs, United Kingdom One Liberty Plaza, 20th Floor, New York, ny 10006, USA 477 Williamstown Road, Port Melbourne, vic 3207, Australia 4843/24, 2nd Floor, Ansari Road, Daryaganj, Delhi – 110002, India 79 Anson Road, #06–04/06, Singapore 079906 CambridgeUniversityPressispartoftheUniversityofCambridge. It furthers the University’s mission by disseminating knowledge in the pursuit of education, learning and research at the highest international levels of excellence. www.cambridge.org Information on this title: www.cambridge.org/9781107176249 C Cambridge University Press 2017 This publication is in copyright. Subject to statutory exception and to the provisions of relevant collective licensing agreements, no reproduction of any part may take place without the written permission of Cambridge University Press. First published 2017 Printed in the United Kingdom by TJ International Ltd. Padstow Cornwall A catalogue record for this publication is available from the British Library Library of Congress Cataloguing in Publication data names: Noble, Denis, 1936– author. title: Dance to the tune of life : biological relativity / Denis Noble. description: Cambridge ; New York : Cambridge University Press, [2017] | Includes bibliographical references. identifiers: lccn 2016023673 | isbn 9781107176249 (hardback) subjects:lcsh:Life–Origin.|Relativity.|Cosmology.|Evolution(Biology)|mesh: Biological Evolution | Biodiversity | Genetic Variation | Origin of Life classification: lcc qh325.n625 2017 | nlm qh 366.2 | ddc 577 – dc23 LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2016023673 isbn 978-1-107-17624-9 Hardback Cambridge University Press has no responsibility for the persistence or accuracy of urls for external or third-party internet websites referred to in this publication, and does not guarantee that any content on such websites is, or will remain, accurate or appropriate. © in this web service Cambridge University Press www.cambridge.org Cambridge University Press 978-1-107-17624-9 — Dance to the Tune of Life Denis Noble Frontmatter More Information Contents Preface page ix Acknowledgements xv 1 · The Universe and the Principle of Relativity 1 The Sky at Night 1 Early Cosmologies 5 The Copernican Revolution 7 Galileo: Father of Modern Science 9 The Earth from a Billion Miles 11 Newton’s Laws of Motion 12 Nineteenth-Century Certainties 13 Quantum Mechanics 15 Einstein’s Special Theory of Relativity 17 Einstein’s General Theory of Relativity 20 Can We ‘Feel’ the Consequences of Relativity? 21 Hubble’sDeepFieldViews 23 Conclusions 24 2 · Biological Scales and Levels 30 The Sense of Scale 30 Scales and Levels 32 Atoms and Ions 35 Molecules 39 Molecules as Systems 42 Networks 46 Organelles 47 Cells 48 Tissues 51 Organs 54 Whole-Body Systems 55 The Organism as a Whole 63 Beyond Organisms 64 Conclusions 64 v © in this web service Cambridge University Press www.cambridge.org Cambridge University Press 978-1-107-17624-9 — Dance to the Tune of Life Denis Noble Frontmatter More Information vi CONTENTS 3·BiologicalNetworks 69 NetworksarenotDiagrams! 69 How Do Complex Structures Form? 74 Biological Oscillators and Attractors 77 Circadian Rhythm 78 Cardiac Rhythm 83 Gene Expression Patterns 87 Synchronisation of Oscillators: Brainwaves 89 Chance at the Heart of the Cell 91 Conclusions 93 4·NatureandOriginofCells 97 The Medical Histology Class 97 Cells as Carriages 98 The Simplest Cells: Bacteria and Archaea 102 Bacteria 102 Archaea 106 Eukaryotes: The Largest Organisms but the Smallest Domain 107 The Cell Cycle 108 Meiosis 112 RNA and Other Early Worlds? 113 How Cells Form Tissues 114 TheNearlyCells:Viruses 115 Tree, Networks or Rings of Life? 115 The Death of Cells 117 Conclusions 118 5 · Blind Chance and Natural Selection 121 Charles Darwin and his Predecessors 121 Darwin on Lamarckism 124 The Rise of Neo-Darwinism Leading to the Modern Synthesis 126 Evolution and Genetics 129 The Modern Synthesis 130 Schrödinger and What is Life? 134 Neo-Darwinism and the Central Dogma 136 The Language of Neo-Darwinism 138 © in this web service Cambridge University Press www.cambridge.org Cambridge University Press 978-1-107-17624-9 — Dance to the Tune of Life Denis Noble Frontmatter More Information CONTENTS vii The Language of Neo-Darwinism as a Whole 150 Conclusions 152 6·BiologicalRelativity 160 A Personal Journey 161 Ultimate Reductionism: Mathematics? 163 Introduction to Spinoza 164 Spinoza’s Way Out of the Cartesian Paradigm 165 The Essence of Biological Relativity 168 Conceptual and Empirical Interpretations 171 OpenandClosedSystems 173 Why Spinoza’s Constraint is not Suicient 174 Forms of Causation 176 Conclusions 181 7 · Dancing Nucleotides: Natural Genetic Engineering 187 Pipes and Templates 187 Summary of the Problem 189 The Weismann Barrier is Relative, not Absolute 191 Genetic Variation is not Random 194 Misinterpretations of the Central Dogma 197 Mobile Genetic Elements 200 Natural Genetic Engineering: Genome Reorganisation 201 Signiicance of Symbiogenesis and Co-operation 204 Conclusions 207 8 · Epigenetics and a Relativistic Theory of Evolution 214 Epigenetics Viewed from Physiological High Ground 214 Epigenetic and Other Lamarckian Inheritance 216 NicheConstructionandtheActiveRole of Organisms 222 The Origin of Species? 224 Are Genes Followers Rather than Leaders? 228 Isn’taLotofDNA‘Selish’,‘Parasitic’? 228 The Speed of Evolution 229 Respecting the Principle of Biological Relativity 232 A Biological Relativistic View of Evolution 232 Conclusions 237 © in this web service Cambridge University Press www.cambridge.org Cambridge University Press 978-1-107-17624-9 — Dance to the Tune of Life Denis Noble Frontmatter More Information viii PREFACE 9 · The Relativity of Epistemology: The Meaning of It All 247 Why? Questions and Goals 248 The Third Way 250 Science and Humanity 251 Science and Common Sense 252 IsNaiveTheismtheOnlyAlternative? 254 Contextual Logic 256 Selish Genes and Altruism 260 Relativity of Epistemology 262 Ultimate Purpose? 264 10 · Postscript 268 Glossary 270 Index 276 A colour plate section can be found between pages 174 and 175. © in this web service Cambridge University Press www.cambridge.org Cambridge University Press 978-1-107-17624-9 — Dance to the Tune of Life Denis Noble Frontmatter More Information Preface Thecentralmessageofthisbookisthatlivingorganismsareopensys- tems. That refers to all parts of organisms. All the molecules, organs and systems dance to the tune of the organism and its social context. Those molecules include the sequences of DNA we now call genes. r How do all these components of life dance together in harmony? r When did their billion-year dance begin? r What makes them dance? r Why is their dance relativistic? r What do we mean by a ‘gene’? r What do we mean by ‘life’? r How can ‘life’ depend on ‘dead’ molecules? r And what is Biological Relativity? Theanswerstothesequestionsformthesubjectofthisbook.We will also address the question of meaning. Could all this really happen as a consequence of ‘blind chance’? And what could that commonly used phrase possibly mean? What, indeed, do we mean by ‘meaning’? Could meaning itself be subject to a relativity principle: a relativity of epistemology? If these questions fascinate you, then read on. You will not need to know a lot of science to understand the book: whatyouwillneedisanewsetofeyes.Iwillencouragethereader to adopt the eyes and mind of an inquisitive explorer. The scientiic knowledge you need to know will mostly be in the book. If you already know a lot of science, you may need to relearn what you thought you knew. Because
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