Self-organisation processes in living matter

Abstract

Apart from the theory of evolution, there is no general theory of life. In addition to its special chemistry involving molecules carrying information, living matter has the property of being built of self-organising systems far from thermodynamic equilibrium. Although this may seem obvious, the implications of this fact for our understanding of life are far from familiar. In this review, I attempt to explain how the concept of self-organisation can change our view of living matter. I discuss more specifically some recent progress made in the understanding of how reaction diffusion and collective molecular behaviours are, in large part, responsible for the generation of cellular and subcellular dynamic patterns characteristic of living matter.