Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jun 26, 2025

A Simplified System for Evaluating Cell Mechanosensing and Durotaxis In Vitro
Published on: August 27, 2015
The cell as a semiotic system that realizes closure to efficient causation: The semiotic (M, R) system
1Department of Logic, History and Philosophy of Science, National Distance Education University (UNED), Spain.
Abstract:
Robert Rosen defines organisms as material systems closed to efficient causation, and proposes the replicative (M, R) system as a model for them. Recently, we presented a cell model that realizes Rosen's formal model, based on Hofmeyr's analysis of the functional organization of cell biochemistry and on Rosen's construction of the replication function. In this article we propose a cell model that, starting from the same biochemical processes, replaces the replication function with a set of semiotic relations between some of the elements that participate in cellular processes. The result is a cell model that constitutes a semiotic system that realizes closure to efficient causation: a semiotic (M, R) system. We compare the models of closure that correspond to the replicative (M, R) system and the semiotic (M, R) system. Additionally, we discuss the role that the genetic code and protein synthesis play in the semiotic closure to efficient causation. Finally, we outline the method to extend this analysis to more complex organisms.
Related Concept Videos
What is Cell Signaling?
Signal and System
Overview of Cell Signaling
Cells respond to many types of information, often through receptor proteins positioned on the membrane. For example, skin cells respond to and transmit touch...
Classification of Systems-I
Homogeneity dictates that if an input x(t) is multiplied by a constant c, the output y(t) is multiplied by the same constant. Mathematically, this is expressed as:
Contact-dependent Signaling
Gap Junctions
In animal cells, gap junctions are formed...
Cell-surface Signaling

