Stochastic Physics, Complex Systems and Biology

TL;DR

This paper explores how stochastic and nonlinear dynamics in complex biological systems lead to evolutionary processes characterized by discrete attractor states, promoting diversity and robustness in phenotypic expressions.

Contribution

It introduces a perspective linking stochastic physics and complex systems to biological evolution, emphasizing the role of attractors in phenotypic diversity.

Findings

Discrete attractor states underpin phenotypic diversity.

Stochastic dynamics confer robustness against perturbations.

Evolutionary jumps correspond to transitions among attractors.

Abstract

In complex systems, the interplay between nonlinear and stochastic dynamics, e.g., J. Monod's necessity and chance, gives rise to an evolutionary process in Darwinian sense, in terms of discrete jumps among attractors, with punctuated equilibrium, spontaneous random "mutations" and "adaptations". On an evlutionary time scale it produces sustainable diversity among individuals in a homogeneous population rather than convergence as usually predicted by a deterministic dynamics. The emergent discrete states in such a system, i.e., attractors, have natural robustness against both internal and external perturbations. Phenotypic states of a biological cell, a mesoscopic nonlinear stochastic open biochemical system, could be understood through such a perspective.