An Integrative Approach Toward Biology, Organisms, and Cancer

Abstract

Over the last two decades, we have challenged the hegemony of the somatic mutation theory of carcino-genesis (SMT) based on the lack of theoretical coherence of the premises adopted by its followers. We offered instead a theoretical alternative, the tissue organization field theory (TOFT), that is based on the premises that cancer is a tissue-based disease and that proliferation and motility is the default state of all cells. We went on to use a theory-neutral experimental protocol that simultaneously tested the TOFT and the SMT. The results of this test favored adopting the TOFT and rejecting the SMT. Recently, an analysis of the differences between the Physics of the inanimate and that of the living matter has led us to propose principles for the construction of a much needed theory of organisms. The three biological principles are(a) a default state, (b) a principle of variation, and (c) one of organization. The TOFT, defined as “development gone awry,” fits well within the principles that we propose for a theory of organisms. This radical conceptual change opened up the possibility of anchoring mathematical modeling on genuine biological principles. By identifying constraints to the default state, multilevel biomechanical explanations become as legitimate as the molecular ones on which other modelers that adopt the SMT rely. Expanding research based on the premises of our theory of organisms will enrich a comprehensive understanding of normal development and of the one that goes awry.

On the relationship between aging & cancer

“…As has been postulated, 62,63 the dynamics of biological organisms, in their various levels of organization, are not "just" processes, but permanent critical transitions and, therefore, changes of symmetry. The dynamics of symmetries and symmetry breakings provide a new, crucial role for symmetries in biology with respect to physics.…”

Quest for breathing: proliferation of alveolar type 1 cells

“…However, models using cell cultures are too simplistic and may lead to misinterpretations (Sims et al 2005 ). In turn, studies using mammalian models constitute highly interactive models (Sonnenschein and Soto 2018 ). Thus, a relatively simple natural model which allows for easy stimulation of squamous epithelial cell proliferation is extremely valuable.…”

Can the Mitochondrial Metabolic Theory Explain Better the Origin and Management of Cancer than Can the Somatic Mutation Theory?

“…Besides the MMT and SMT, the origin of cancer has been described under the tissue organization field theory (TOFT), which also addresses bidirectional interactions in tissue morphogenetic fields [ 40 ]. Readers are referred to the excellent work of C. Sonnenschein and A. Soto for a comparative analysis of the TOFT and SMT of carcinogenesis [ 3 , 17 , 148 , 149 , 150 , 151 ]. According to these investigators any conclusion regarding data interpretation is valid under the SMT because no alternative concept is ever disproved and abandoned.…”