Classification of Self-Organization and Emergence in Chemical and Biological Systems

Julianne D. Halley; David A. Winkler

doi:10.1071/CH06191

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Classification of Self-Organization and Emergence in Chemical and Biological Systems

Julianne D. Halley ^A and David A. Winkler ^A ^B

+ Author Affiliations

- Author Affiliations

^A Centre for Complexity in Drug Design, CSIRO Molecular and Health Technologies, Private Bag 10, Clayton South VIC 3169, Australia.

^B Corresponding author. Email: dave.winkler@csiro.au

Julianne Halley is a post-doctoral fellow funded by the Australian Stem Cell Centre and working at CSIRO Molecular and Health Technologies. Her research focusses on stem cell regulatory networks and how external and cell intrinsic factors interact to control cell fate decisions. Her Ph.D. research at Monash University focussed on how the behaviour and interaction of ants promotes collective intelligence capable of solving relevant complex problems. She discovered a new type of self-organized criticality and demonstrated that critical-like dynamics could persist in extreme non-equilibrium environments.

David Winkler is a Senior Principal Research Scientist and Project leader at CSIRO Molecular and Health Technologies. His research interests include complex systems, modelling of stem cell properties, and computational drug design. He is also an Adjunct professor at Monash University and Chairman of the Royal Australian Chemical Institute Board.

Australian Journal of Chemistry 59(12) 849-853 https://doi.org/10.1071/CH06191
Submitted: 5 June 2006 Accepted: 13 October 2006 Published: 20 December 2006

Abstract

Most chemical and biological systems are complex, but the application of complex systems science to these fields is relatively new compared to the traditional reductionist approaches. Complexity can provide a new paradigm for understanding the behaviour of interesting chemical and biological systems, and new tools for studying, modelling, and simulating them. It is also likely that some very important, but very complicated systems may not be accessible by reductionist approaches. This paper provides a brief review of two important concepts in complexity, self-organization and emergence, and describes why they are relevant to chemical and biological systems

References

Classification of Self-Organization and Emergence in Chemical and Biological Systems

Abstract

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