Senomic view of the cell: Senome versus Genome

Commun Integr Biol. 2018 Aug 10;11(3):1-9. doi: 10.1080/19420889.2018.1489184. eCollection 2018.

Abstract

In the legacy of Thomas Henry Huxley, and his 'epigenetic' philosophy of biology, cells are proposed to represent a trinity of three memory-storing media: Senome, Epigenome, and Genome that together comprise a cell-wide informational architecture. Our current preferential focus on the Genome needs to be complemented by a similar focus on the Epigenome and a here proposed Senome, representing the sum of all the sensory experiences of the cognitive cell and its sensing apparatus. Only then will biology be in a position to embrace the whole complexity of the eukaryotic cell, understanding its true nature which allows the communicative assembly of cells in the form of sentient multicellular organisms.

Keywords: Cell; Epigenome; Genome; cognition; communication; evolution.

Publication types

  • Review