Book Description

ABOUT THE BOOK The Book is an interdisciplinary textbook, written with the intent of introducing two new concepts. A. The Association Constant (Ka) versus Entropy and Chaos. 1. The formation and evolution of chemical and biological compounds on atomic and molecular scales are the work of the four natural forces, enhanced by the existence of the natural constants and their remarkable adjustment. And the work of the covalent and noncovalent forces (bonds) being derived from the natural forces. So is the evolution of living organisms but with the essential and indispensable impact of the environment, violent and punctuate. 2. The effects of the natural forces (through the covalent and noncovalent bonds) is expressed by Ka. Therefore, Ka preserves what nature accomplishes by protecting matter against the action of entropy (a faulty distribution of matter), and by preserving free energy (-ΔG) against the action of chaos (a faulty distribution of energy). Evolution is an obligation to elegance and wisdom. 3. The Book draws straight and clear line connecting general relativity, i.e. gravity (the infinite large), quantum mechanics (the infinite small), and biology (the infinite complex). B. Individuality of the Human Genome. 1. Our uniqueness as species (Homo sapiens) is invariantly encoded in the protein-coding genes (about 2 percent of our DNA). These genes are invariably found in every human being. They are species - specific, responsible for the human genesis and form the human genophenotype. Our uniqueness as individuals variantly resides in the rest of our DNA (the nonprotein-coding DNA, about 98 percent of our genome) and in the histones (chemical modifications and compaction of nucleosomes). They constitute the epigenetic factors responsible for the formation of the epigenetic phenotype, which is variably different from one individual to another. They are individual - specific. Epigenetic factors variantly effect and regulate gene expression. For example, the craniofacial structure in mice is encoded in 300 protein-coding genes. The expression of these genes is regulated by 4000 different sequences of nonprotein-coding DNA called enhancers. Thus, the number of different forms of the craniofacial structure that might develop in mice is 300 exponentiated 4000 epiphenotypes. Other than enhancers, there are the mobile elements of DNA, dsRNA-coding DNA, chemical modification of DNA (e.g., methylation), and so forth. 2. Mind exclusively exists in man as an emergent phenomenon. 3. All scientific data presented in the Book are entirely intended to reflect, to explain, or to prove the Two Concepts rather than to discuss their significances and originalities. The interdisciplinarity of the Book offers a unique opportunity for understanding how astrophysics, quantum mechanics, thermodynamics, and biology are interrelated. Hani K. Rizk