what is life ? what is living ?

 What is Life ? contrasted with what is Living ? 

Life from the perspective of atoms is the progressive re-arrangement of atoms into "higher-order" structures with an increase in entropy that transforms energy into useful work, which results in metabolism, growth, and reproduction. Cells are an example of living objects.

Living is a "lived experience." 

Does 'ALL LIFE' possess lived experience, in other words, do all living objects "EXPERIENCE?"

Do individual cells experience? does a crystal experience? does DNA experience? 

However, as a human organism, I experience, and I know a cat is living when I see it, but do I know whether a cat experiences? I assume a cat enjoys the experience of drinking milk when I see it, but do I as a human being know that for sure? 

What is the difference between "I know it when I see it" to truly understanding the process? The first is a subjective experience that is intuited, the latter is an objective rational understanding of the process when I divide the entire experience into "I the observer", observing the cat drinking milk. 

Am I truly able to understand in third-person perspective or phenomenology, or is phenomenology a descriptor and first-person understanding or noumenology is true understanding via subjective intuition? 

The basis of "phenomenology" is the mind/active (dynamic) energy field/biological awareness/consciousness that analyses and breaks down a process into parts to understand it. It does not include the observer.

 The basis of "noumenology", is "Pure Awareness/Consciousness that is the inert/still energy field underlying all physical and mental universes, called "Brahman" in Advaita (Non-Dual) Vedanta. Shakti i.e. dynamic energy is akin to the power of fire (Brahman) to burn. The inert/still energy field illuminates existence itself via the power of awareness.  

ref: can life really be explained by physics? 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k-vm3ZWnMWk&t=24s     

cellular expression code: cec

 The concentration of RNA and proteins within a cell determines its conformation.

The levels of RNA/protein are like the crests and troughs of a wave, fluctuating high and low concentrations encoding an expression code of RNA/protein. 

There is an optimal expression code within a regularly dividing cell.

In a cancer cell,  this expression code is altered due to deregulatory epigenetic mechanisms, leading to aberrant expression of oncogenes and tumor suppressors, projecting as a tumor-initiating cell.

Manifestation of Unity

 The manifestation of Unity (Wave function/Universal Energy Field) as multiplicity (Particles) in the double-slit experiment.

Fractals may be the mechanism via which Brahman/Universal energy field experiences the universe as Multiplicity via various minds (mind here is biological consciousness/thought emerging from the brain and is speculated to have a fractal structure or fractal function).

 Fractals are separated in time and space by Markov Blankets, which are most probably higher-order fractals. This occurs for energy-efficient propagation of information so that darker areas of destructive interference of waves are separated from lighter areas of constructive interference of waves resulting in particles as observed in the quantum double-slit experiment.

Cancer_Hypothesis

 Hypothesis of Cancer:

1.Probably the epigenome of a cell is modified by an oncogenic mutation. Phenotypic plasticity/tumor heterogeneity occurs in this process.

2. This modified epigenome overrides the inhibitory signaling of tumor microenvironment. Chaos ensues.

3. The above (2) breaks cell cell interactions leading to tumor cells release from primary site and spread i.e. invasion.

4. Altered epigenome leads to epithelial mesenchymal transition.

5. Tumor cells at secondary site  undergo mesenchymal epithelial transition due to restored epigenome in a new microenvironment.

6. As critical threshlod of oncogenic protein/signaling activity is breached (1) happens again.

7. A vicious cycle of tumor growth and spread ensues.

8. Altered expression/phenotype of tumor cells  containing oncogenic mutation occurs via phase transition.

9. The unpredictable component is how the epigenome is altered from a normal one to a cancerous one via the  oncogenic mutation.

The analogy with an Enzymatic Reaction:

Initiator-Oncogenic mutation, Epigenome alteration/Ist hit

Catalyst-Altered Tumor Microenvironment /2nd hit

Reactants-Normal cell

Product/s-Tumor cell

Targeting the Epigenetic Profile of tumor-initiating stem cells

 IDEA for a Cancer  Vaccine:

Can Tissue-Specific, Conserved Epigenetic Signatures, of Tumor Initiating/metastasizing Stem Cells serve as targets for developing an Anti-Cancer Vaccine? 

Experience and Self

During an experience of the world, a mental model of the "world" is constructed.

This mental model is occurring "within" the ambit of, Self-Awareness. 

Self-Awareness is the enabler or illumines this experience. 

The experience of the world is the constructed mental model, upon the substratum of, Self-Awareness.

 

Environment and its influence

 Recently there was an article published titled "Live tumor imaging shows macrophage induction and TMEM-mediated enrichment of cancer stem cells during metastatic dissemination"

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-021-27308-2

This article provided evidence for the enrichment of cancer stem cells, near macrophages. 

This finding reminds me of the influence of the "environment" on the "system". 

For example,   an individual, let's say person A has some latent characteristics or personality traits that were never given the opportunity to manifest themselves. However, under changing environmental influences, that particular trait was manifested or enriched for.

Let us take the example of extroversion. Maybe person A is not socially outgoing, avoids crowded events, tends to interact less with other people socially. Person A develops the reputation of an "introvert". But due to technological advancements, person A got the opportunity to express themselves via websites, social media, and so forth. This in turn increased the chances that person A interacts with more like-minded persons who share similar interests. This in turn resulted in person A beginning to express themselves more freely, followed by interaction with others. So the latent characteristic of "extroversion" got manifested in an otherwise introverted person.

Questions: Are cells like humans (or it is the other way around), manifesting latent characteristics in context?