A Research Program for Theoretical Life Science: High-Dimensional Life States, Low-Dimensional Projection, and a Preliminary Test of Apparent Randomness

This manuscript proposes Theoretical Life Science as a research program for a unified description of life. Its central conjecture is that life is not a static entity in three-dimensional space, nor a simple hierarchical sum of molecules, cells, tissues, and organs. Rather, it is an open, non-equilibrium process on a high-dimensional state manifold. The visible morphology, omics patterns, pathological classifications, and physiological phenotypes observed by humans are projections of this process under limited observational coordinates, finite temporal resolution, and coarse-grained scales. The current aim of Theoretical Life Science is not to restore life, but to develop a theoretical language that can jointly describe life states, open fluxes, randomness, relational structures, topological stability, and viability. A preliminary bioinformatic validation based on a public single-cell aging atlas shows that, as the observational representation expands from low-dimensional markers to a high-dimensional transcriptomic state, aging-stage prediction improves and prediction uncertainty decreases. This provides preliminary support for the testable proposition that low-dimensional projection may create part of the apparent randomness observed in life phenomena. Life-state restoration should therefore be understood only as a long-term implication of a mature theory. Only when life states can be sufficiently described, measured, predicted, and controlled can disease reversion, aging intervention, tissue regeneration, and higher-level reconstruction of life states become rigorous scientific questions.

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Publication Details

Journal
Zenodo (CERN European Organization for Nuclear Research)
Published
2026-06-09
DOI
https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.20605184
Primary Topic
Genetics, Aging, and Longevity in Model Organisms
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article
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article

A Research Program for Theoretical Life Science: High-Dimensional Life States, Low-Dimensional Projection, and a Preliminary Test of Apparent Randomness

Dong Song, Minrui Zhang
Zenodo (CERN European Organization for Nuclear Research)
Genetics, Aging, and Longevity in Model Organisms
article

A Research Program for Theoretical Life Science: High-Dimensional Life States, Low-Dimensional Projection, and a Preliminary Test of Apparent Randomness

Dong Song, Minrui Zhang
article en

Abstract

This manuscript proposes Theoretical Life Science as a research program for a unified description of life. Its central conjecture is that life is not a static entity in three-dimensional space, nor a simple hierarchical sum of molecules, cells, tissues, and organs. Rather, it is an open, non-equilibrium process on a high-dimensional state manifold. The visible morphology, omics patterns, pathological classifications, and physiological phenotypes observed by humans are projections of this process under limited observational coordinates, finite temporal resolution, and coarse-grained scales. The current aim of Theoretical Life Science is not to restore life, but to develop a theoretical language that can jointly describe life states, open fluxes, randomness, relational structures, topological stability, and viability. A preliminary bioinformatic validation based on a public single-cell aging atlas shows that, as the observational representation expands from low-dimensional markers to a high-dimensional transcriptomic state, aging-stage prediction improves and prediction uncertainty decreases. This provides preliminary support for the testable proposition that low-dimensional projection may create part of the apparent randomness observed in life phenomena. Life-state restoration should therefore be understood only as a long-term implication of a mature theory. Only when life states can be sufficiently described, measured, predicted, and controlled can disease reversion, aging intervention, tissue regeneration, and higher-level reconstruction of life states become rigorous scientific questions.

Zenodo (CERN European Organization for Nuclear Research)
Kangda College of Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing Medical University (CN)
Life in Land, Responsible consumption and production
Openalex Percentile: Top 10%
Genetics, Aging, and Longevity in Model Organisms
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A Research Program for Theoretical Life Science: High-Dimensional Life States, Low-Dimensional Projection, and a Preliminary Test of Apparent Randomness — Dong Song, Minrui Zhang · Zenodo (CERN European Organization for Nuclear Research) (2026) | TGRS Research Map | TGRS