The Neoplasia as embryological phenomenon and its implication in the animal evolution and the origin of cancer. II. The neoplastic process as an evolutionary engine

TL;DR

This paper proposes that neoplasia has deep evolutionary roots, playing a central role in animal morphogenesis and evolution, linking cancer biology with embryological development and early animal evolution.

Contribution

It introduces the idea that neoplastic processes are fundamental to animal evolution and morphogenesis, highlighting their embryological basis and evolutionary significance.

Findings

Neoplastic mechanisms are rooted in evolutionary history.

Cancer-related cellular modules contributed to early embryonic development.

Physics modeling reveals the totipotency of the zygote.

Abstract

In this article, I put forward the idea that the neoplastic process (NP) has deep evolutionary roots and make specific predictions about the connection between cancer and the formation of the first embryo, which allowed for the evolutionary radiation of metazoans. My main hypothesis is that the NP is at the heart of cellular mechanisms responsible for animal morphogenesis and, given its embryological basis, also at the center of animal evolution. It is thus understood that NP-associated mechanisms are deeply rooted in evolutionary history and tied to the formation of the first animal embryo. In my consideration of these arguments, I expound on how cancer biology is perfectly intertwined with evolutionary biology. I describe essential cellular components of unicellular holozoans that served as a basis for the formation of the neoplastic functional module (NFM) and its subsequent exaptation, which brought forth two great biophysical revolutions within the first embryo. Finally, I examine the role of Physics in the modeling of the NFM and its contribution to morphogenesis to reveal the totipotency of the zygote.