Jump to content

Dynamics of a cell - explainable in terms of physics?


Alfred001

Recommended Posts

Is it possible to describe everything that happens inside a cell in terms of physics? Like is it possible to tell the story of creation of protein in terms of physics or are these things just biological dynamics and givens that can't be reduced to physics?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Of course you can apply physics. However, it only goes up to a certain complexity. I.e. a complete bottom-up model of cells is not possible to date. It is generally limited to small things (e.g. certain molecular interactions) or you have to simplify things massively. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 3 months later...

What I'm really curious about is whether there are emergent phenomena in the cell that cannot be explained in terms of lower level laws - laws of physics that govern the constituent elements of the cell.

So, if you take something like CRISPR (or any other more complicated and purposeful dynamic in a cell), I can't imagine that that very purposeful behavior can be explained in terms of laws of physics. It seems to me it's an emergent phenomenon.

Now, to be clear, my question is not whether we can explain it RIGHT NOW, with our current knowledge of physics, rather I'm saying that it seems to me that those kind of behaviors CAN'T be explained in terms of the physical laws that describe the behavior of atoms which make the cell up. Is that so?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

13 minutes ago, Alfred001 said:

What I'm really curious about is whether there are emergent phenomena in the cell that cannot be explained in terms of lower level laws - laws of physics that govern the constituent elements of the cell.

So, if you take something like CRISPR (or any other more complicated and purposeful dynamic in a cell), I can't imagine that that very purposeful behavior can be explained in terms of laws of physics. It seems to me it's an emergent phenomenon.

Now, to be clear, my question is not whether we can explain it RIGHT NOW, with our current knowledge of physics, rather I'm saying that it seems to me that those kind of behaviors CAN'T be explained in terms of the physical laws that describe the behavior of atoms which make the cell up. Is that so?

I think, if life wasn't an emergent phenomena, we'd have worked it out by now by simply reverse engineering the chemistry and physics of it but, unfortunately, 2+2 makes 5. :) 

Edited by StringJunky
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

We have placed cookies on your device to help make this website better. You can adjust your cookie settings, otherwise we'll assume you're okay to continue.