Alex Hankey*

Department of Biology, MIT-WPU, India

*Corresponding Author: Alex Hankey, Department of Biology, MIT-WPU, India.

Received: March 09, 2023; Published: April 06, 2023

Abstract

Background: This invited article follows up a previous paper on the same topic. It builds on the insight that, in its system of Tridosha, Ayurveda introduces principal functions of open systems applying to all levels of organism function, cell, tissue, organ, organ system, and whole organism. The delicate function of Acetyl-CoA linking lipids, Kapha, and metabolism, Pitta, confirms this insight. The holistic nature of systems functions confirms Ayurveda’s insight that organism function is holistic. Here, we update previous results by adding four further levels of reasoning from an epigenetic perspective.

Methods: The epigenetics build on fundamental insights into how interrelationships between epigenetic activation of loops of genes bring cells integrated, holistic, structures of regulation.

First, Stuart Kauffman’s original work in the field; second, the ‘Sandwich Model’ of biology; third, self-organized criticality, and its optimization of response functions to external stimuli; and fourth, development of mutual coherence between related cells.

Results: These four additions to today’s molecular picture of biology show respectively that:

• Integrated structures of epigenetic regulation define all cell types in all organisms;
• Such structures endow organisms with levels of adaptability required to live in real environments;
• Self-organized criticality optimizes response functions, maximizing competitiveness of the organism in its ecological niche, and helping it to thrive and survive;
• Mutual coherence between similar cells enables them to function as integrated units, i.e. holistically.

Discussion: These four developments all concern integration of functioning, progressively increasing levels of wholeness, at which cells, tissues, and organisms function. Organism functioning can now be seen to possess extraordinarily high levels of integration, making organism function holistic.

 Keywords: Ayurveda; Ontology; Integrated Regulation; Coherence; Holistic Function

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Citation

Citation: Alex Hankey. “The Ontological Status of Western Science and Medicine: Ten-Year Follow-up with particular Reference to Ayurveda”.Acta Scientific Medical Sciences 7.5 (2023): 38-45.

Copyright

Copyright: © 2023 Alex Hankey. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.