Journal of Physical Chemistry & Biophysics
Open Access
ISSN: 2161-0398
+44 1478 350008
ISSN: 2161-0398
+44 1478 350008
Otsuka J
JO Institute of Biophysics,
Higashi-Ohizumi 6-49-18, Nerima-ku, Tokyo, 178-0063
Japan
Research Article
The Concept of Biological Activity and Its Application to Biological Phenomena
Author(s): Otsuka JOtsuka J
Although the life has been a mystery for most physicists since the problem of Maxwell's demon, this mystery is resolved by considering the following characteristics of an organism; the self-reproduction by taking material and energy sources from the outside on the basis of its genetic information, and the selection of self-reproduced organisms to maintain and further improve the genetic information. According to the knowledge of molecular biology revealed recently, the molecular route to accomplish the self-reproduction is evaluated energetically, and a new thermodynamic quantity of biological activity is proposed for characterizing the state of an organism in terms of acquired energy, stored energy and systematization. This quantity is not only compatible with the law of thermodynamics but also reflects the changes in genome and in the mode of gene expression. Thus, the biologica.. View More»
DOI:
10.4172/2161-0398.1000235