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Related Experiment Video

Updated: Jul 18, 2025

Mechanostimulation of Multicellular Organisms Through a High-Throughput Microfluidic Compression System

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Published on: December 23, 2022

Life's Mechanism.

¹Department of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences (DiSAA), University of Milan, Via Celoria 2, 20133 Milano, Italy.

Life (Basel, Switzerland)

|August 26, 2023

Summary

This summary is machine-generated.

Life is defined as a self-regulating process where matter uses cyclic changes in conformation, driven by thermodynamic gradients, to perform work and reduce entropy. This principle applies to biomolecules and potentially other biospheres.

Keywords:

brownian motor death definition of life feynman–smoluchowski ratchet heat engine theory of life

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Area of Science:

Thermodynamics
Biophysics
Origin of Life Studies

Background:

Defining life based on emergent properties is challenging.
Existing definitions do not fully capture the intrinsic functioning of living systems.

Purpose of the Study:

To propose a mechanistic definition of life.
To identify a universal principle underlying biological processes.

Main Methods:

Analysis of biomolecular mechanisms, including enzymes and ribozymes.
Examination of conformation state changes driven by thermodynamic gradients.
Conceptualization of life as a thermodynamic process.

Main Results:

Biomolecules function as 'heat engines,' converting thermodynamic disequilibria into directed motion.
Life is characterized by self-regulating networks of uniplanar conformation changes.
This process locally reduces entropy by performing work.

Conclusions:

Life is a self-regulating process converting thermodynamic disequilibria into directed motion.
Living things are autonomous networks exploiting thermodynamic gradients.
These principles are universal and applicable to extraterrestrial life.