Biotensegrity is the super-stability hypothesis for biology

Area of Science:

• Biophysics
• Systems Biology
• Anatomy

Background:

• Traditional biomechanics, based on 17th-century mechanistic models, oversimplifies anatomy and motion.
• These mechanistic models overlook inherent approximations and assumptions, obscuring fundamental principles of stability and life.
• Living organisms are complex, indeterminate, and far from equilibrium, necessitating advanced modeling.

Purpose of the Study:

• To introduce biotensegrity as a novel conceptual framework for understanding living systems.
• To contrast biotensegrity with traditional biomechanical models.
• To highlight biotensegrity's ability to explain the complexity, stability, and adaptability of life.

Main Methods:

• Conceptual framework development.
• Comparison of biotensegrity principles with traditional biomechanics.
• Application of tensegrity principles to biological systems.

Main Results:

• Biotensegrity models living systems holistically, encompassing all complexities from molecular to organismal levels.
• It explains stability and motion as intrinsic properties governed by self-organizing principles and a homeostatic algorithm.
• Anatomy is represented as a complex pattern of interacting force vectors within a tensegrity configuration.

Conclusions:

• Biotensegrity provides a more accurate and comprehensive model for living systems than traditional biomechanics.
• This framework elucidates the energy-efficient adaptation and intrinsic stability of organisms throughout their life.
• Biotensegrity offers a new paradigm for understanding the foundational basis of life, stability, and motion.