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From "Information" to Configuration and Meaning: In Living Systems, the Structure Is the Function
Paolo Renati1,2, Pierre Madl2,3
1World Water Community, NL-3029 Rotterdam, The Netherlands.
International Journal of Molecular Sciences
|August 14, 2025
Summary
Conventional digital information concepts are inadequate for living systems. Biological information is relational, depends on order, and requires a redefinition of thermodynamics, shifting from particle to field views in life sciences.
Area of Science:
- Life Sciences
- Theoretical Physics
- Information Theory
Background:
- Conventional scientific understanding of 'information' is often digital and simplistic, failing to capture the complexity of living systems.
- Living systems are open, relational, and characterized by internal order, contrasting with static, quantity-based information models.
- Existing thermodynamic principles, like the Second Principle, may require redefinition for accurate application to biologically compartmentalized systems.
Purpose of the Study:
- To challenge the conventional, digital-centric view of information in scientific contexts.
- To propose a new framework for understanding information in biological systems, emphasizing relationships and qualities over quantity.
- To advocate for methodological shifts in life sciences, incorporating principles from quantum field theory (QFT).
Main Methods:
- Conceptual analysis and argumentation, critiquing existing information definitions.
- Comparison of information in telecommunications (Shannon definition) versus biological systems.
- Application of quantum field theory (QFT) concepts to model living systems as relational processes.
Main Results:
- Biological information is intrinsically linked to order, distinction, and differentiation, opposing internal entropy.
- Living systems cannot be adequately described by macroscopic, bulk state functions due to structural compartmentalization.
- A quantum field theory perspective reveals living systems as dynamic, context-dependent relational processes, not static objects.
Conclusions:
- A static, bit-related concept of information is insufficient for understanding biological systems and their environmental coupling.
- The Second Principle of Thermodynamics needs redefinition for applicability to living systems.
- Life sciences must transition from a 'particle view' to a 'field view,' embracing QFT, to accurately study non-confinable biological processes.
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