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9780980966756

Physics of Growth and Replication : Physical and Geometrical Perspectives on Living Organisms' Development

by
  • ISBN13:

    9780980966756

  • ISBN10:

    0980966752

  • Format: Hardcover
  • Copyright: 2010-01-13
  • Publisher: Akvy Pr
  • Purchase Benefits
List Price: $67.95
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Summary

"Since Newton's generalization of Kepler's Laws each universalisation in science is truly welcome as potentially important contribution to the progress of human knowledge. In present biology general ideas come into prominence especially there, where the reductionistic era of detailed invesigations gives its place to the era of holistic approach. This modern kind of thinking is certainly represented by Dr. Yuri Shestopaloff in his book entitled "Growth and Replication of Cells and Other Living Organisms". Here the growth and replication of living organisms is set free from overwhelming genetic and biochemical context with purely biological boundaries. What does he propose instead? - Physical perspective.

According Shestopaloff' s hypothesis the leading role in the growth and replication processes belongs to the difference in growth rates of the cell's membrane surface, and the cell's volume. The cell stops growing at "equating size" when the relative growths of the surface and volume become equal. This surface - volume growth mechanism, which couples membrane's carrying capacity with the needs of the cell's biomass, is presented as universal physical placeholder of the overall growth process. Author formalizes these ideas by a general mathematical formula of the growth of living organisms. His thesis discussed in a very interesting dialectical manner and supported by experimental results on Amoeba growth, development of trophectodermal cells in pigs' blastocysts and cellularization of the syncytial blastoderm of Drosophila are worth publishing.

The main advantage of proposed theory is that it allows for geometrization of the model of growth and development of cells and living organisms. It is well known how fruitful was geometrization of Newton's "force of gravity" performed by Einstein. Similary, Shestopaloff shows that geometry of growing organisms is an important component of biospace, a " force" which universally shapes the growth of biological cells and all species in general. He simply demonstrates how specific geometrical relationships between the surface and volume may determine the growth rate. Sphere, disk, cone, frustum cone and cylinder-like cells are the main actors of this spectacle. We learn for instance, why E. coli cells evolutionary acquired a cylindrical shape. Simple answer given by Shestopaloff is that "among all elongated shapes this one provides the fastest growth and consequently the shortest replication cycle". Author also answers why sphere-like cells should not vary much in size regardless of how rich in nutrients the environment is? He writes: "...the more prolonged is the shape of a cell, the less size restrictions are imposed to the cell's growth by the surface-volume growth mechanism". What it has to be stressed - all of these findings result from one simple equation postulated by Shestopaloff.

One may argue that life is not so simple. From Shestopaloff' s perspective, it exactly is. What he successfully did in the discussed work is logical holistic arrangement of physical and biological puzzles to reveal the landscape of Living Nature more informative than mixed up pieces.

Reviewed book is well written reading-matter for all people interesting in physical basis of life, without rich mathematical experience. It is also carrying some dose of philosophical reflections about science as it. It may be recommended as valuable lecture especially for students and scientists working in the area of biology and biophysics." - Piotr H. Pawlowski, Ph. D., Institute of Biochemistry and Biophysics, PAS, Warszawa, Poland

Author Biography

Yuri K. Shestopaloff is a professional academic and consultant. He started his academic career as an Applied Mathematician and Engineer-Physicist. He received his M.Sc and Ph.D degrees from Moscow Physical Technological Institute, focusing on the development of mathematical methods and algorithms for interpretation of remote sensing data. He received the Doctor of Sciences degree, the highest academic degree in European countries, for developing mathematical methods for data interpretation and processing. He has worked as Associate Professor, Full Professor and Chair at the Electrical Engineering Department of Academy of Transport. Simultaneously, he held the position of Chief Scientist at Institute of Sensor Microelectronics of Russian Academy of Sciences. Presently, Yuri K. Shestopaloff does consulting and research on mathematical methods and computational algorithms in various fields of science and technology, such as financial mathematics, biology, remote sensing and wave propagation theory. He also consults on system design issues, and leads middle and large scale software development projects which require high performance and efficient processing of data. In particular, Yuri develops investment performance measurement applications and trading systems for different financial companies. His list of clients includes Royal Bank of Canada and other major financial institutions and companies, technology companies such as Canon, HP, CA, i2, and government organizations. He is regularly invited to speak at professional forums and conferences, on financial and investment related mathematics and mathematical modeling.Yuri has published seven books and over eighty academic articles on financial mathematics, remote sensing, wave propagation theory, and mathematical methods and algorithms for data interpretation, data processing and modeling. Yuri also publishes articles on natural philosophy and the philosophy of science. His literary writings (poetry, short stories and novels) are appreciated by a wide audience.

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