Philosophy Of Life

Drug screening strategy at post-genome era with Chinese traditional theory of materia medica Xiao Ming Wang Hubei College of Traditional Chinese Medicine E-mail: [email protected], [email protected]

Abstract: Section: #44. Philosophy of Nature The author first gives the definition of a life. A life has five characteristics: grow, reproduce itself, adjust and repair itself, can be killed, age to die. He first explained why and how development of life. He concluded: life development consists three aspects: life species evolution, life type specialization, life level multiplication. He proposed a strategy to screen drug bioactivity and give an explanation of Chinese Traditional theory of Materia medica in modern concept. The best drug to treat a disease life consists of the components or functions of Monarch drug, minister drug, assistant drug and guide drug. 1. Introduction Drugs are very important substances for human survival on the earth. Human have long history using drugs to treat and prevent diseases. Approach to drug therapeutics was entirely empirical before the mid-19th century. Nowadays, there are about 6,000 chemical entity and 15,000 natural products had used as drugs. It is still a great challenge for us to find good drugs to treat some diseases today (antitumor. antiHIV). Drug discovery is an arduous job. More than 50,000 new chemical compounds may be screened out one commercial benefit clinical drug, needed 500,000,000 dollar investment and 5~8 year periods. With the development of science and technology, human has accumulated a lot of knowledge about human body and other organisms. We have known DNA sequences of whole human body, although we do not understand the all functions of each pieces of DNA. Scientists are now working to find out the relations between each pieces of DNA with its functions and regulations. The knowledge of physiology and pathology of human body in molecular level is also important for drug research. We say today is post-genome era because human have accumulated so much information and 1

knowledge about human life. Thus, we should have better ideas to search chemical compounds to therapy diseases. Drug discovery need not merely to innovate new techniques to obtain a large number of new chemicals and to develop high-through-put bioactivity screening. The mainly important questions that we need to determine are what kinds of bioactivity can be useful as a drug more quickly and efficiently and how to set up strategy to use them to therapy diseases more safely and rationally 2. The definition of a life That drugs therapy diseases is not like repairing a car. Drug treat disease is to restore and prolong patient’s life or alleviate his pain. But what is a life? It seems a very difficult question to answer. People have asked this question for thousand years. Aristotle and Erwin Schrödinger were great interested in this question. It is a basic question for us to understand all phenomena of living organisms on the earth. It is also a key question for human whether or not can set up a life in other planets. Since life is such an ubiquitous and fundamental concept, the definition of it is very useful. If we can correctly give a definition of life, we can understand not only the organisms existed in past on earth but also will know how the organisms will develop in future. It will help us to understand the other organisms surrounded ourselves. To help us explain the physiology and pathology of human in molecular level. And it also makes us to understand the functions of our body and directs us to discover drugs to treat diseases when our lives developing. It may give ideas suggesting the pathways of chemical evolution of lives on earth. It leads us understand the ecology on earth and function of human society. People may define life in different ways for different purposes. But we would be for an understanding of that very important essence that inheres in all lives.

We will need to

generalize our concept of what a life. Human have accumulated a great deal of information and knowledge about lives on earth. It 2

is a very important to give a definition of life. The definition should be sufficiency, common usage, extensibility, simplicity and objectivity. Although a great deal is known about life, there is no generally accepted definition of life. It is very obvious that life has properties, which clearly distinguish it from everything else. Life on earth is mainly composed of four elements: carbon, hydrogen, oxygen and nitrogen. There are many biochemical reactions in organisms. What are the characteristics that a life organism has but a death organism and inoganism have not? It is an important question for us to understand what a life. We say that life is consisted of series biochemical reactions. But series biochemical reactions may not be a life. Let us analysis the characteristics of a life organism. First, every life body can grow. It means that a life body can be from small to big. The lives on earth all come from a small. But a body can from small to big may not alive. For instance, a balloon can from small to big. A crystal can grow. Second, every life can reproduce by itself. That means every life can from one life to become two life or more, from one generation to second generation. Many scientists are perplexed by the phenomena of life reproduction. A man can reproduce himself? We know every cell can reproduce itself. Why a man cannot reproduce himself? Most scholars do not understand that a man and a cell are at different life level. Millions cells of a man can reproduce themselves. The reproduction of a man needs to organize a high level life: a family life. But something can reproduce itself maybe not a life. DNA can reproduce itself. It is not a life. Computer virus also can reproduce itself. Third, every life body can adjust and repair itself. That means every life organism has ability to adjust to the outside stimulator and can repair itself if it is hurt in some extent. Also, something can adjust itself to outside stimulator maybe not life, man-made robot have such ability. We know it not a life. 3

Fourth, many life organisms can age to die. Is this a characteristic of a life? Actually we can say every life organism may age to die. What is dying of a life organism? The answer is that if a life body can not grow or not reproduce, not adjust and repair itself. Age to die means a life may go through a period of time, it die itself. Some non-life materials or phenomena may look similar to age to die. For instances, wood fire out, iron rust, shoes wear out, etc. Fifth, every life organisms can be killed to die. That organisms be killed means many materials or methods or factors can make it not grow, not reproduce. Many scientists and philosophers have paid no attention to this characteristic of a life. A very small cause may make a life to death. It is a very basic property for us to understand the life phenomena. But a very small cause may also make a big machine stop. Considering a life organism, we can understand that very a life has such five characteristics. Can we say anybody is a life if it has such five characteristics? The answer is yes. A cell is a life. A tree is a life. A family is a life. A company is a life. A nation is a life. An ecosystem is a life. All lives on earth organize a biosphere. The biosphere is a life. This is James Lovelock’s famous Gaia hypothesis. But the lives are at different levels. All level lives have such five characteristics. A life can exist only one time. So we can infer that any a thing or any a body if it has such five characteristics, it is a life. In the universe, or on other planets, if any a thing, whatever elements it is made of, has such five characteristics, we can say it a life body. 3. Development of life An organism has a life. That means this organism can grow, reproduce itself and age to die. A new life may have such process: birth, grow, reproduce and age to die. We say this process a life cycle. Every species organism on earth has himself or herself life cycle. Why do we say life can be killed is a basic characteristic? Because a life organism we say it a life can adjust and repair itself to avoid being killed. There are many factors can make a life being killed. This is 4

main basic reason that the life on earth develops to many species, many types and many levels. We understand that cell is the basic unit of life on earth. Most organisms are made of cells. Each cell is a life. Cell metabolism need to adjust to make it to survive when the circumstance change. An organism maybe consists of many cells; it needs to adjust every cells to accommodate to circumstance change as a whole life. Every life is developing. They made the circumstance change of each life. Every life is from small to big. They made the shortage of space, materials and energy. So, life develops to use different space, materials and energy. Life competes to use space, materials and energy. Some life competes to adjust to use other space, materials and energy. This is the life species evolution. Some life competes to adjust itself to use space, materials and energy more effectively. They differentiate to different types. The different types compete to specialize to different functions. They organize to a high life level to survive. The lives may organize more life levels. This can maintain circumstance stability which benefit for all lives existing when solar energy transmit to earth. They use solar energy and transform energy as a special style more efficiently. Let us see human body. Human evolve to use different energy and materials comparing with other animals for survival. Each cell of human body differentiates to different cell types. Each cell type has different functions. All these cells organize a human body life. Man and woman organize a family life. People differentiate to do different works. All people lives organize a society life. Many society lives organize a nation life. Many nation lives organize a country life. The definition of a life can lead us more easily to understand the functions of the different cells of human body, the physiology of human body and of the different species, the ecology of earth. We can more easier to predict what different cell types may have and what kind of pathways and proteins to set up the functions that the whole life need to survive. So, life development consist three aspects: life species evolution, life type specialization, 5

and life level multiplication. 4. Diseases and Drug We know that a human body life consists of two levels: cell level and whole body level. Each level has ability: grow, reproduce, adjust and repair, be killed, age to die. Our body has many metabolisms in each cell and regulations between cells. Different cells have different functions. They work together to maintain whole body to survive in different seasons on earth. Everything is balance in a healthy body life. Each biochemical reactions in cells are balance. The regulations between cells make all cell function balance. That makes every organs of our body to work. Thus the whole body can survive on earth. Many reasons can cause unbalance in metabolism. For instance, shortage of nutrition, weather changes, other organisms invasion etc. If something causes an unbalance in some biochemical reactions in a cell, there two levels to adjust and repair it. An unbalance reaction triggers a series of biochemical reactions. These reactions may cause dysfunctions of some cells and organs. This man is ill. If the unbalance can be repaired by the cell lives and body life, he just needs to take a rest. If the unbalance cannot be repaired, the patient has got disease. He needs drugs to treat the disease. Drugs are chemical compounds that can restore balance. They may have three kind functions to treat biochemical metabolisms: activate biochemical reaction, inhibit biochemical reaction, or stop biochemical reaction. All drugs from out of patient body enter to an unbalance place to treat it. Our body has many cells. How could drugs from out of body reach the unbalance place of some cell without hurt other cells of body? So we do our best to find the chemical which has the function to treat unbalance biochemical reaction and less hurt other cells from more than 50,000 new chemicals. It is a hard task. We may success or fail. How to find and find what kind bioactivity of drug that can best treat a disease and least hurt other cells is our great job. 5. Drug screening strategy and Chinese Traditional theory of Materia medica 6

Chinese has more than 5000 year history using natural products to treat diseases. Ancient Chinese doctors used a formula prescription to therapy a disease. The formula consists of monarch drug, minister drug, assistant drug and guide drug. This is Chinese Traditional theory of Materia medica. West Country doctors may be confused why they used this formula to treat a disease. Also no Chinese scholar has given clear explanation yet. In this article, I will give an explanation of Chinese Traditional theory of Materia medica in modern concept. Monarch drug are chemical components that can treat main problem (key unbalance) that may kill the disease life. Minister drug are chemical components which help Monarch drug arrive the disease (key unbalance) place. Assistant drug are chemical components that protect other cell lives that may be hurt by monarch drug, minister drug and guide drug. Guide drug are bioactive to find the factor that cause disease (first unbalance) and treat it. So, the best drug to treat a disease life consists of monarch drug, minister drug, assistant drug and guide drug. Drug screening strategy is to find bioactivity of chemicals with the function of monarch drug, minister drug, assistant drug and guide drug. This strategy can be used to treat any level disease life. References Joseph Morales The Definition of Life Psychozoan: A Journal of Culture Copyright 1998 http://www.baharna.com/philos/life.htm Daniel E Koshland Jr The seven pillars of life. Science. Washington: Mar 22, 2002. Vol. 295, Iss. 5563; pg. 2215, 2 pgs Definition of life Encyclopedia Britannica 2007 Ultimate Reference Suite

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