Courtesy of Michael Carroll
The evolution of complex biologic organisms began with the symbiotic relationship between pro- and eukaryotes (I). This relationship gave rise to mitochondria (II), and the resulting diversity of unicellular organisms (III) led to their metabolic cooperativity (IV) mediated by ligand-receptor interactions and cell-cell signaling. Natural selection generated an increasing complexity (V). Failed homeostatic signaling (VI) recapitulates hylogeny/ontogeny, offering pathology/repair as the inverse of phylogeny/ontogeny.
From the beginning of written history, humans have gathered information and imparted order, starting with Denis Diderot's Encyclopedia, to Carl Linnaeus' binomial nomenclature for the classification of animals and plants, to today's numerous genome annotations. Several physicists in the 19th century had attempted to order the known elements. Notably, Dmitri Mendeleev published his periodic table and law in 1869. Its most stunning feature: Holes within its hierarchical structure predict the existence and properties of additional elements – the ultimate validation of scientific ...
