category of $(M,R)$ -systems
Robert Rosen
introduced metabolic-repair models, or
-systems in mathematical biology (abstract relational biology) in 1957 ([4,5]); such systems
will be here abbreviated as
-systems, (or simply
's). Rosen, then represented the
's in terms of categories
of sets, deliberately selected without any structure other than the discrete topology of sets.
Theoreticians of life's origins postulate that Life on Earth has begun with the simplest possible organism, called the primordial. Mathematicians interested in biology and this important question of the minimal living organism have attempted to define the functional relations
that would have made life possible in a such a minimal system- a grandad and granma of all living organisms on Earth.
Definition 0.1
The simplest

-system is a relational model of the primordial organism which is defined by the following
categorical sequence
(or diagram) of sets and set-theoretical mappings:

, where

is the set of inputs to the

-system,

is the set of its outputs, and

is the `repair map', or

-component, of the

-system which associates to a certain product, or output

, the `metabolic' component (such as an enzyme, E, for example)
represented by the set-theoretical mapping

. Then,

is defined as the set of all such metabolic (set-theoretical) mappings (occasionally written incorrectly by some authors as

).
Definition 0.2
A
general
-system was defined by Rosen (1958a,b) as the network or
graph
of the metabolic and repair components that were specified above in
Definition 0.1; such components are networked in a complex, abstract `organism' defined by all the abstract relations and connecting maps between the sets specifying all the metabolic and repair components of such a general, abstract model of the biological organism. The mappings bettwen

-systems are defined as the the metabolic and repair set-theoretical mappings, such as

and

(specified in
Definition 0.1); moreover, there is also a finite number of sets (just like those that are defined as in
Definition 0.1):

, whereas

and
![$ \phi \in Hom_{MR_i}[B, Hom_{MR_i}(A_i,B_i)]$](img23.png)
, with

, and

being a finite index set, or directed set, with

being a finite number of distinct metabolic and repair components pairs. Alternatively, one may think of a a general

-system as being `made of' a finite number

of interconnected

, metabolic-repair
modules
with input sets

and output sets

. To sum up:
a
general MR-system can be defined as a
family of interconnected quartets:

, where

is an index set of integers

.
Remark 0.1
For over two decades,
Robert Rosen
developed with several coworkers the MR-systems theory and its applications
to life sciences, medicine and general systems theory. He also considered biocomplexity to be an `emergent', defining feature of organisms which is
not reducible in terms of the molecular structures (or molecular components) of the organism and their physicochemical interactions. However, in his last written book in 1997 on
“Essays on Life Itself", published posthumously in 2000, Robert Rosen finally accepted the need for representing organisms in terms of
categories with structure that entail biological functions, both metabolic and repair ones. Note also that, unlike Rashevsky in his
theory of organismic sets, Rosen did not attempt to extend the

s to modeling societies, even though with appropriate modifications of
generalized
-system categories with structure ([
7,
8,
13]), this is feasible and yields meaningful mathematical and sociological results.
Thus, subsequent publications have generalized MR-system (GMRs) and have studied the fundamental, mathematical properties of
algebraic categories
of GMRs that were constructed functorially based on the Yoneda-Grothendieck Lemma
and construction. Then it was shown that such algebraic categories of GMRs are
Cartesian closed [
7].
Several
molecular biology realizations of GMRs in terms of
DNA, RNAs, enzymes,

-reverse trancriptases, and other biomolecular components were subsequently introduced and discussed in ref. [
21,
13,
14] in terms of
non-linear genetic network
models in many-valued,

logic algebras (or
algebraic category
of
logic algebras).
If simple
-systems are considered as sequential machines or automata the category of
-systems and
-system homomorphisms
is a subcategory of the automata category. However, when
-systems are considered together with their dynamic
representations
the category of dynamic
-systems is no longer a subcategory of the category of automata.
-
- 1
-
Rashevsky, N.: 1965, The Representation of Organisms in Terms of
Predicates, Bulletin of Mathematical Biophysics 27: 477-491.
- 2
-
Rashevsky, N.: 1969, Outline of a Unified Approach to Physics, Biology and Sociology., Bulletin of Mathematical Biophysics 31: 159-198.
- 3
-
Rosen, R.: 1985, Anticipatory Systems, Pergamon Press: New York.
- 4
-
Rosen, R.: 1958a, A Relational Theory of Biological Systems Bulletin of Mathematical Biophysics
20: 245-260.
- 5
-
Rosen, R.: 1958b, The Representation of Biological Systems from the Standpoint of the
Theory of Categories., Bulletin of Mathematical Biophysics 20: 317-341.
- 6
-
Rosen, R.: 1987, On Complex Systems, European Journal of Operational Research 30:129-134.
- 7
-
Baianu, I.C.: 1973, Some Algebraic Properties of (M,R) - Systems. Bulletin of Mathematical Biophysics 35, 213-217.
- 8
-
Baianu, I.C. and M. Marinescu: 1974, On A Functorial Construction of (M,R)- Systems. Revue Roumaine de Mathematiques Pures et Appliquées 19: 388-391.
- 9
-
Baianu, I.C.: 1980, Natural Transformations of Organismic Structures.,
Bulletin of Mathematical Biology,42: 431-446.
- 10
-
I.C. Baianu: 1977, A Logical Model of Genetic Activities in Łukasiewicz Algebras: The Non-linear Theory. Bulletin of Mathematical Biophysics, 39: 249-258.
- 11
-
I.C. Baianu: 1983, Natural Transformation Models in Molecular Biology., in Proceedings of the SIAM Natl. Meet., Denver, CO.; An Eprint is here available
.
- 12
-
I.C. Baianu: 1984, A Molecular-Set-Variable Model of Structural and Regulatory Activities in Metabolic and Genetic Networks., FASEB Proceedings 43, 917.
- 13
-
I.C. Baianu: 1987a, Computer Models and Automata Theory in Biology and Medicine., in M. Witten (ed.),
Mathematical Models in Medicine, vol. 7., Pergamon Press, New York, 1513-1577; CERN Preprint No. EXT-2004-072:.
- 14
-
I.C. Baianu: 1987b, Molecular Models of Genetic and Organismic Structures, in Proceed. Relational Biology Symp. Argentina; CERN Preprint No.EXT-2004-067:MolecularModelsICB3.doc.
- 15
-
I.C. Baianu, Glazebrook, J. F. and G. Georgescu: 2004, Categories of Quantum Automata and
N-Valued Łukasiewicz Algebras in Relation to Dynamic Bionetworks, (M,R)-Systems and
Their Higher Dimensional Algebra,
Abstract of Report is here available as a PDF
and
html document
- 16
-
R. Brown, J. F. Glazebrook and I. C. Baianu: A categorical and higher dimensional algebra framework for complex systems and spacetime structures, Axiomathes 17:409-493.
(2007).
- 17
-
L. L
fgren: 1968. On Axiomatic Explanation of Complete Self-Reproduction. Bull. Math. Biophysics,
30: 317-348.
- 18
-
Baianu, I.C.: 2004a. Łukasiewicz-Topos Models of Neural Networks, Cell Genome and Interactome Nonlinear Dynamic Models (2004). Eprint. Cogprints-Sussex Univ.
- 19
-
Baianu, I.C.: 2004b Łukasiewicz-Topos Models of Neural Networks, Cell Genome and Interactome Nonlinear Dynamics). CERN Preprint EXT-2004-059. Health Physics and Radiation Effects (June 29, 2004).
- 20
-
Baianu, I. C.: 2006, Robert Rosen's Work and Complex Systems Biology, Axiomathes 16(1-2):25-34.
- 21
-
Baianu I. C., Brown R., Georgescu G. and J. F. Glazebrook: 2006, Complex Nonlinear Biodynamics in Categories, Higher Dimensional Algebra and Łukasiewicz-Moisil Topos: Transformations of Neuronal, Genetic and Neoplastic Networks., Axiomathes, 16 Nos. 1-2: 65-122.
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