Why Is the Cell So Complex? - Molecular Theory of the Living Cell - page 573

equilibron in the modern terminology). However, according to PRED, Statement
17.1, the question of whether the ultimate reality is an equilibron or a dissipation
cannot be decided unless and until the TW of the observer and the HL of the
observed objects are known. Thus, the world views of Heraclitus and Parmenides
may reflect the two extremes of PRED.
Before we attempt to explain in greater details why the living cell is so complex
(probably the most complex structure per unit mass in the Universe!), it would be
helpful to briefly summarize the equilibrons and dissipatons that constitute the
living cell, equilibrons and dissipatons being defined in accordance with PRED.
That is, any physical entities of the living cell that remain constant within the
time window of minutes or hours will be considered to constitute “structures,”
“things,” or “equilibrons,” whereas any entities lasting only for times shorter
than about seconds or minutes upon removing free energy will be referred to as
“processes” or “dissipatons.”

17.1 The Structural Complexity of the Living Cell

The complexity of any entity or object, including the living cell, in principle, can be
expressed (as alluded to above) in terms of the algorithmic information (also called
the Kolmogorov-Chaitin complexity) equal in quantity to the number of symbols
or signs (e.g., numbers, words, equations, graphs, and pictures) in the shortest
symbol string that is required to characterize/describe the entity under consider-
ation (Sect. 4.3 ) . Thus, the longer the symbol string needed to describe an entity,
the more algorithmic information that entity carries (Klir 1993), and hence the
more complex is the entity. For example, the complexity of the mitochondrion can
be equated with the number of symbols needed to describe all the scientific
knowledge that has accumulated on this organelle as of, say, December 31, 2010.
Even without performing any exhaustive data mining, we can reasonably conclude
that the mitochondrion is more complex than the endoplasmic reticulum, which is
in turn more complex than the lysosome, which is more complex than the peroxi-
some, since it would take successively longer strings of symbols to describe these
organelles as we know them. The structural and functional characteristics of the
major components of the living cell are briefly summarized in Table 17.2 .
Applying the Law of Requisite Variety (Sect. 5.3.2 ) to these organelles, it may
be concluded that
The relative algorithmic complexities of the structures of organelles reflect the relative
complexities of their intracellular functions. (17.2)

Statement 17.2 seems reasonable since the mitochondrion, along with the
nucleus, is one of the most complex organelles, since it provides the energy for
all of the hundreds of metabolic processes that are driven either directly or
indirectly by ATP hydrolysis. It is important to keep in mind that mitochondria
not only synthesize ATP but also most likely communicate with other organelles,