Network thermodynamics: a candidate for a common language for theoretical and experimental biology

Effective interaction between theory and experimentation in biology requires that there be a common language, which workers in both areas understand. Because the backgrounds of biomedical researchers are often more descriptive than quantitative, it would be useful to have a diagrammatic method for defining models of systems that would easily translate into a rigorous quantitative description susceptible to computer simulation. Network thermodynamics is the next logical step in the evolution of thermodynamic thinking and meets these criteria. Network thermodynamics has already begun to be used in a variety of areas in experimental biology and is accessible to direct use by the experimenter. Network thermodynamics is not restricted by the traditional constraints on classical and nonequilibrium thermodynamics, such as reversibility, linearity, nearness to equilibrium, etc. Since living systems are inherently hierarchical in their nature, the network approach incorporates this feature in a natural way and, in a sense, supplies the "missing link" between traditional physics and chemistry and the vitalists' concern for the complexity of living systems. In the future, the use of a common language for theoretical and experimental biology should result in an increased understanding of human biology by the scientific community.