The “Selfish Cell”: The Central Role of Metabolism in Relaying Environmental Stimuli and Controlling Cellular Function

Science is dynamic, and novel models to better understand experimental observations are very important for its advancement. In the context of cell biology, knowledge about how cells behave in response to extracellular stimuli, and how these processes are dysregulated in pathologic conditions, is one of the challenges of biological research nowadays. From a theoretical point of view, the discovery of the double-helix model of DNA structure led to the idea that most aspects of a cell’s behavior could be understood by knowing the sequence and the rules regulating the expression of genes. A paradigm of this way of thinking is the theory of the “selfish gene” by Richard Dawkins. Indeed, this approach is being found to have several limitations, especially in the interpretations of complex pathologies, such as cancer, metabolic or neurodegenerative diseases. For this reason, a paradigm shift should be considered to provide a better modeling of the biological processes that control cellular behavior and physiology. In particular, a central role should be given to metabolism as a relay between the environment and microenvironment and cell function, by driving epigenetic modifications. For these reasons, a new “selfish cell” model should be introduced, which could prove useful to better explain complex diseases and find more effective translational approaches.