Systems Biology as a Research Program for Intelligent Design

Snoke, D. W.

doi:10.5048/bio-c.2014.3

Cited by 2 publications

(1 citation statement)

References 64 publications

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“…Thus, this paper offers a new way to characterize the body of literature about adaptation. This approach is a contribution toward the development of a new, comprehensive engineering-based framework for understanding biological phenomena (Snoke 2014). How different is this characterization of adaptation from the status-quo?…”

Section: 1 Emphasis In Original)mentioning

confidence: 99%

Continuous environmental tracking: An engineering framework to understand adaptation and diversification

Guliuzza¹,

Gaskill²

2018

PICC

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We offer a new framework for understanding biological adaptability based on interpreting the findings of 342 journal articles and 67 online reports related to adaptation, bioengineering, and design in view of the assumption that biological functions are most accurately explained by engineering principles. We hypothesize that organisms actively and continuously track environmental variables and respond by self-adjusting to changing environments-utilizing the engineering principles constraining how human-designed objects self-adjust to changes-which results in adaptation. We termed this hypothesis Continuous Environmental Tracking (CET). CET is an engineering-based, organismfocused characterization of adaptation. CET expects to find that organisms adapt via systems with elements analogous to those within human-engineered tracking systems, namely: input sensors, internal logic mechanisms to select suitable responses, and actuators to execute responses. We derived the hypothesis by reinterpreting findings and formalizing biological adaptability within a framework of engineering design, considering: (1) objectives, (2) constraints, (3) variables, and (4) the biological systems related to the previous three. The literature does identify internal mechanisms with elements analogous to engineered systems using sensors coupled to complex logic mechanisms producing highly "targeted" self-adjustments suitable to changes. Adaptive mechanisms were characterized as regulated, rapid, repeatable, and sometimes, reversible. Adaptation happened largely through regulated gene expression and not gene inheritance, per se. These observations, consistent with CET, contrast starkly with the evolutionary framework's randomness of tiny, accidental "hit-and-miss" phenotypes fractioned out to lucky survivors of deadly challenges. Evolutionists now divide over their framework's need of modification, and a trend among some seeks to infuse more engineering into biology. This disarray affords a rare, transient opportunity for engineering advocates to frame the issue. CET may fundamentally change how we perceive organisms; from passive modeling clay shaped over time by the vicissitudes of nature, to active, problem-solving creatures that continuously track environmental changes to better fit existing niches or fill new ones.

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Section: 1 Emphasis In Original)mentioning

confidence: 99%

Continuous environmental tracking: An engineering framework to understand adaptation and diversification

Guliuzza¹,

Gaskill²

2018

PICC

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Spontaneous Appearance of Life and the Second Law of Thermodynamics

Snoke

2022

BioCosmos

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It is often argued both by scientists and the lay public that it is extremely unlikely for life or minds to arise spontaneously, but this argument is hard to quantify. In this paper I make this argument more rigorous, starting with a review of the concepts of information and entropy, and then examining the specific case of Maxwell's demon and how it relates to living systems. I argue that information and entropy are objective physical quantities, defined for systems as a whole, which allow general arguments in terms of physical law. In particular, I argue that living systems obey the same rules as Maxwell's demons.

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Systems Biology as a Research Program for Intelligent Design

Cited by 2 publications

References 64 publications

Continuous environmental tracking: An engineering framework to understand adaptation and diversification

Continuous environmental tracking: An engineering framework to understand adaptation and diversification

Spontaneous Appearance of Life and the Second Law of Thermodynamics

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