Chapter 8: Chaos in Biology and Biomedicine

A dynamical system is a system that evolves as a function of time. Accordingly, all living systems are dynamical systems. Further, homeostasis is a fundamental property of the living and can be regarded as a propensity to maintain the living system within a particular dynamical domain. For example, a homeostatic dynamical system often works like a thermostat. Thus, a biological system remains within a certain dynamical range by self-regulating phenomena that can be considered in two ways. On the one hand, the system acts to modify the environment (like heating regulated by the thermostat modifies temperature) by controlling reactions that slow in order to stop some process. On the other hand, every change in the environment stimulates an appropriate adaption of the living system. Homeostatis is defined by the existence of specific regulatory mechanisms that maintain processes within a given dynamical regime…