'Bootstrapping' of Biological Systems

As stated before in this booklet we will not investigate that process whose outcomes are those most simple biological systems called 'cells', which can reproduce themselves. These ingenious processes are usually headed under the title chemical evolution(cf. Rauchfu? (2005)[297]).

The chemical evolution can be understood as a kind of 'bootstrapping process' for biological systems. Different starting points can be selected. If we would use e.g. as starting point the universe some time after the Big Bang then we have a generation of chemicals (starting with atoms) based on the processes including stellar dust as well as stars and systems of stars (cf. 2.2). The next step is some planet where local conditions can produce some kinds of molecules (cf. 2.3). Molecules again can cooperate in networks of molecules to produce more advanced molecules which finally - somehow - have lead to networks of molecules organized as 'cells' (cf. 2.4). Cells can reproduce again cells with the ability to enlarge cell-based systems more and more by multiplying the cells and connect them to multi-cellular systems of an enormous size.

$\displaystyle chemevol1$	$\displaystyle :$	$\displaystyle UNIVERSE \longmapsto CHEMICALS$	(2.1)
$\displaystyle chemevol2$	$\displaystyle :$	$\displaystyle UNIVERSE \times PLANETS \times CHEMICALS \longmapsto MOLECULES$	(2.2)
$\displaystyle chemevol3$	$\displaystyle :$	$\displaystyle UNIVERSE \times PLANETS \times CHEMICALS \times MOLECULES \longmapsto CELLS$	(2.3)
$\displaystyle biolevol$	$\displaystyle :$	$\displaystyle UNIVERSE \times PLANETS \times CHEMICALS \times MOLECULES \times CELLS \longmapsto 2^{CELLS}$	(2.4)

Looking backwards from the most complex system to the less complex components research is puzzled by the question where the additional 'information' is coming from which is needed to organize less complex components to become organized as more complex structures (cf. the very stimulating book of Paul Davies [56]). If we don't want to assume some kind of 'magic' (which is not the business of science) then one has to assume some so far 'hidden' laws of nature which 'urge' molecular components to organize in such a highly specialized manner which overcomes the unconceivable huge space of possibilities by 'built in' preferences.

For the project to engineer intelligent semiotic systems the problems of the chemical evolution are not important as long as we are interested in the complex levels of cells within the biological evolution.