Biology Reference
In-Depth Information
6
Hetero-organisation
S
UMMARY
. The organism is the result of a process of hetero-
organisation. Since molecules are non-specific, randomness is
introduced into the interactions between proteins, generating
very many possible structural combinations. This large number
of combinations is useful to living organisms, as it produces the
diversity of cells necessary for building the organism's tissues,
and during ontogenesis, it is controlled by a selection process.
Each cell adapts to its microenvironment made up of the other
cells of the organism, this microenvironment itself depending
on the external environment. Natural selection thus takes place
in the internal environment and is the causal agent for forma-
tion of the organism. Ontogenesis and phylogenesis constitute
a sole ontophylogenesis process which excludes all finalism. As
Bernard suggested, it is the organisation of a multicellular liv-
ing organism which ensures the life of the cells that constitute
it, not the reverse. This conception resolves the contradiction
in genetic determinism because a historical explanation
replaces an explanation in terms of levels of organisation. The
living organism is produced neither by the molecular level, nor
by the cellular or organismic level, as is supposed by reduc-
tionism and holism. It is the result of its history. This theory is
in line with a vast amount of experimental data which demon-
strate that the differentiation of cells and gene expression are
stochastic phenomena. It integrates the role of non-specific sig-
nals, though the latter are not inducing agents, only contribut-
ing towards the selection and stabilisation of cell types.
Ontophylogenesis also helps us to understand the probabilistic
functioning of the genome, the structure of which, like that of
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