The Living Cell - Molecular Theory of the Living Cell - page 267

mediated by conformons, which provide the molecular mechanism for the
chemical-to-mechanical energy conversion based on the generalized
Franck-Condon principle (Chap. 8 ).
12. Cell functions entail transmitting genetic information in space (e.g., from the
nucleus to the cytosol; from the cytosol to the extracellular space) and time
(e.g., from an embryo to its adult form; from one cell generation to the next)
through what has been referred to as the Prigoginian and the Watson-Crick
forms of genetic information, respectively (Ji 1988). The Bhopaltor model of
the living cell identifies the Prigoginian form of genetic information with IDSs
and the Watson-Crick form with DNA.

To recapitulate, the updated version of the Bhopalator shown in Fig. 10.1
embodies the following key principles, theories, and concepts discussed in this
topic:

1. The principle of self-organization and dissipative structures (Sect. 3.1 ).
2. The gnergy principle that all self-organizing physicochemical processes in the
Universe are driven by gnergy (Fig. 4.8 ), the complementary union of informa-
tion (gn-) and energy (-ergy), the discrete units of which being referred to as
gnergons which include conformons and IDSs (Sect. 2.3.2 ) .
3. The living cell is a renomalizable bionetwork of SOWAWN machines

(Sect. 2.4.2 ) .
4. The cell function is an irreducible triad of equilibrons , dissipatons , and
mechanisms (Sect. 6.2.11 ).
5. The IDS-cell function identity hypothesis (see Sect. 10.2 ) results from
prescinding (Sect. 6.2.12 ) IDS from other more distal causal factors of cell
functions.
6. The Bhopalator can provide a common theoretical framework for effectuating
both development (Sect. 15.8 ) and evolution (Sect. 14.7 ) through genetic and
epigenetic mechanisms obeying the Principle of Slow and Fast Processes, also
known as the generalized Franck-Condon principle (Sect. 2.2.3 ) .
7. Because of (6), the Bhopalator provides a sound theoretical basis for unifying
genetics and epigenetics on the one hand and evolutionary developmental
biology (EvoDevo) (Carroll 2006) and developmental evolutionary biology
(West-Eberhard 2003) on the other.

10.2 The IDS-Cell Function Identity Hypothesis

As already pointed out in Sect. 10.1 , IDSs in Fig. 10.1 are the only node among the
four nodes that is connected to cell's environment via a unidirectional arrow,
implying that IDSs are the most proximate causes of cell functions (also called
cell behaviors, phenotypes, or phenons). Thus, IDSs are unique among the possible
causes of cell functions that are at different distances from the effects or cell
functions, DNA being most distant. The idea that IDSs are the immediate causes