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Evolutionary biosemiotics and multilevel construction networks.

Alexei A Sharov1

  • 1National Institute on Aging, Laboratory of Genetics, 251 Bayview Blvd., Baltimore, MD 21224, USA.

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Summary
This summary is machine-generated.

Biosemiotics explores how organisms dynamically use signs for evolution and development. This study examines semiotic networks, proposing their construction drives life's origin and complexity.

Keywords:
Evolutionary semioticsconstraints on learningconstructivismevolvabilitymetasystem transitionsemiotic network

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Area of Science:

  • Biosemiotics
  • Evolutionary Biology
  • Developmental Biology

Background:

  • Traditional semiotics focuses on relational aspects of signs.
  • Biosemiotics emphasizes dynamical sign processes across evolutionary and developmental timescales.
  • Understanding sign dynamics requires constructivist approaches to explain organismal component production.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To analyze the dynamics of sign processes in evolving and developing organisms.
  • To explain the emergence of new components like subagents and interpretation networks.
  • To describe the origin of life as the emergence of self-constructing semiotic networks.

Main Methods:

  • Analysis of semiotic networks, including signs, tools, and subagents.
  • Examination of constructivist principles in biological systems.
  • Investigation of multilevel semiotic networks and their role in organismal plasticity and evolvability.

Main Results:

  • Semiotic networks are multilevel, supporting organismal plasticity, robustness, and evolvability.
  • The origin of life is posited as the emergence of simple, self-constructing semiotic networks.
  • Proto-signs regulate primitive organism activities, while object recognition evolved with epigenetic memory and advanced capacities in eukaryotes.

Conclusions:

  • Multilevel semiotic networks are fundamental to organismal development and evolution.
  • Construction processes, including learning and evolution, generate novel components and behaviors.
  • Metasystem transitions lead to new organizational levels, shaping phenotypes through integrated learned and evolved traits.