Thermodynamics of Biological Switches

TL;DR

This paper develops a thermodynamic framework for biological information-processing systems, showing how they can sustain nonequilibrium steady states through external energy fluxes and how mesoscopic subsystems can organize entropy flow.

Contribution

It introduces a novel formulation of the First Law for biological systems by partitioning entropy and linking natural selection to optimal information processing.

Findings

Mesoscopic subsystems can reach NESS before microscopic ones.

Ordered entropy flow structures can form in biological systems.

External energy fluxes sustain nonequilibrium states in biological information processing.

Abstract

We derive a formulation of the First Law of nonequilibrium thermodynamics for biological information-processing systems by partitioning entropy in the Second Law into microscopic and mesoscopic components and by assuming that natural selection promotes optimal information processing and transmission. The resulting framework demonstrates how mesoscopic information-based subsystems can attain nonequilibrium steady states (NESS) sustained by external energy and entropy fluxes, such as those generated by ATP/ADP imbalances in vivo. Moreover, mesoscopic systems may reach NESS before microscopic subsystems, leading to ordered structures in entropy flow analogous to eddies in a moving stream.