INFORMATION (Positional)
| Collection | International Encyclopedia of Systems and Cybernetics |
|---|---|
| Year | 2004 |
| Vol. (num.) | 2(1) |
| ID | ◀ 1668 ▶ |
| Object type | Discipline oriented, General information |
Morphogenetic information potentially present in the specific spatial interrelations of some elements in an incipient system.
This notion emerged in the 1970s (L. WOLPERT) in the study of genetically based differentiation in living beings organization. Such differentiation corresponds to chemical gradients.
The relative positions of some genes (homoebox genes) “allows one part of the embryo to be labelled as different from all other parts… Such information is present even in the unfertilized egg cell… (where) there is already a ”head“ end and a ”tail“ end.
- “The amount of positional information builds up during the development of the embryo. Eventually the positional information is so complex that very small groups of cells, destined to become a particular part of the body, can be distinguished” (S. DAY, 1990, p.4).
More generally, positional information is related to symmetry-breaking. G. NICOLIS and I. PRIGOGINE state: “Physiologically, the best known type of positional information is ensured by monotonic gradients of appropriate morphogens establishing a polarity within the field… A gradient (or more generally a primary spatial pattern) arising in this way should have some well defined reproductibility” (1978, p.26).
The notion of positional information looks like a good candidate as a general systemic concept; for the following reasons:
- it seems to be related to a universal concept of polarity
- it seems to be a bridge between levels of autopoiesis
- it connects both meanings of the concept of morphogenesis
- it makes sense in practically each level of complexity from crystals to human societies
(stigmergy).