Physics - Molecular Theory of the Living Cell - page 36

We may refer to Statement 2.44 as the principle of the structure-function
complementarity (PSFC) in biology in analogy to the principle of the kinematics-
dynamics complementarity (PKDC) in physics (Murdoch 1987, pp. 58-61). From
Table 2.11 , it is clear that PSFC is isomorphic with (or belongs to the same logical
class as) the principle of liformation-mattergy complementarity which is a newer
designation for what is more often referred to as the information-energy comple-
mentarity for brevity (Sect. 2.3.2 ) (Ji 1991, 2000). Table 2.11 suggests that the
cell biology-molecular biology and holism--reductionism pairs also belong to the
liformation-mattergy complementarity class.
From Table 2.11 , we can generate two inequalities in analogy to Inequalities
2.38 and 2.39 :

ðÞD m D L ðÞg (2.45)

ðÞD E D I ðÞg (2.46)

where g is a constant that is postulated to play a role in biology comparable to that of
the Planck constant, namely, the quantum of gnergy , or the gnergon . The best
characterized example of the gnergon is the conformon , the sequence-specific
conformational strains of biopolymers that carry both genetic information and
mechanical energy (Chap. 8 ). If we assume (based on the principle of excluded
middle) that the minimum uncertainty in measuring information content of a
conformon is 1 bit and that the minimum energy required to measure biological
information is 1 kT or the thermal energy per degree, the minimum value of the
product, ( D I)( D E), is 4.127 10 14 erg or 0.594 kcal/mol at T 298 K, which

may be considered to be the value of g at this temperature (Ji 1991, pp. 119-122).
If these conjectures are valid, Inequality 2.45 would suggest that:
The more precisely one defines what life is, the less precisely can one define what the
material constituents of the organism are.

¼

(2.47)

Conversely,
The more precisely one determines what the material basis of an organism is, the less
precisely can one define what life is. (2.48)
Statements 2.47 and 2.48 that are derived from the principle of Bohr's comple-
mentarity are consistent with the more general statement about the uncertainty in
human knowledge, called the “Knowledge Uncertainty Principle” (KUP), to be
discussed in Sect. 5.2.7 . KUP can be viewed as a generalization of what was
previously referred to as the Biological Uncertainty Principle (BUP) (Ji 1990,
pp. 202-203, 1991, pp. 119-122).
If proven to be correct after further investigation, Statements 2.47 and 2.48 may
find practical applications in medicine, science of risk assessment, and law, where
the question of defining what life and death often arises.
The two forms of the Heisenberg uncertainty principle appearing in the margins
of Table 2.8 are quantitative because they can be expressed in terms of quantifiable