Principles and Mechanisms of Biological Evolution - Molecular Theory of the Living Cell - page 508

where d is the rate of organismic death increased or decreased relative to a reference
death rate, d 0 , by altering P(E) through affecting any one of the underlying four
entities (i.e., nodes D, C, B, or A) in the MTLC-based model that happens to be the
weakest link under a particular environmental condition. The following predictions
can be made based on Eq. 14.40:
1. No evolution can proceed without changing the average P(E) of a population.
2. Because of the postulated “many-to-one mapping between the nth and the
(n + 1)th nodes,” not all changes in sequences, protein stabilities, excited states
of proteins, or exergonic chemical reactions are expected to lead to the
corresponding changes in P(E).
The MTLC-based model of evolution shown in Fig. 14.7 may be alternatively
referred to as the “five-causes mechanism of cell death (FCMCD),” since there are
at least five key mechanisms by which the death of an organism may be effected,
depending on the environment under which the organism of interest maintains life;
i.e., by altering (1) sequences (or DNA, RNA, or proteins by mutations,
recombinations, deletions, insertions etc.), (2) ground-state conformations, (3)
excited-state conformations, (4) chemical reactions, and/or (5) IDSs (i.e., intracel-
lular dissipatons) directly.
As will be discussed in Chaps. 18 and 19 , the MTLC-based model of evolution
provides an unexpected and useful theoretical framework for biomarker (i.e.,
disease-related cell states) identification , molecular diagnosis , drug target discov-
ery research , and drug therapy in personalized medicine.