本文是 NMT通讯 录用的早期版本，已为促进学术交流先行在线发布，但尚未完成传统的期刊出版全流程

Life = f(Environment, t)

From Traditional Wisdom to a New Biology Dogma

Yue Jeff Xu^1,2,3,4

1. Zhongguancun Xuyue NMT Industrial Alliance, Beijing 100080, China

2. NMT International Alliance, South Deerfield, Massachusetts 01373, USA

3. Xuyue (Beijing) Sci. & Tech. Co., Ltd., Beijing 100080, China

4. YoungerUSA LLC, South Deerfield, Massachusetts 01373, USA

Corresponding author:

Yue Jeff Xu, jeffxu@youngerusa.com

Abstract

This article presents a comprehensive framework for understanding life through the formula Life = f(Environment, t), positing that the state of a living system is a function of its environment and time. It traces the philosophical origins of this concept to the ancient Chinese wisdom of "Harmony between Heaven and Humanity" and systematically develops it into a modern scientific paradigm. The paper argues for a shift in life sciences from static "decoding" of biological components to dynamic "regulation" based on real-time interactions. Central to this framework is Ionic & Molecular Omics (imOmics), proposed as the scientific language to quantify the functional relationship 'f' by focusing on the fluxes of ions and molecules at the interface between life and its environment. The enabling technology for imOmics is Non-invasive Micro-test Technology (NMT), which allows for in vivo, in situ, and real-time measurement of these dynamic exchanges. The ambitious Global imOme Project (GiP) is outlined as a large-scale initiative to validate and apply this framework globally across various fields, including smart agriculture, precision medicine, and environmental monitoring. Finally, the article introduces a New Biology Dogma—DNA → RNA → Protein → imOme → Phenotype—as a crucial extension of the Central Dogma, emphasizing the role of real-time ion and molecule exchanges (the imOme) in connecting genetic information to macroscopic phenotypes, thereby bridging internal genetic instructions with external environmental interactions.

Key Words 

Life = f(Environment, t), Ionic & Molecular Omics (imOmics), Non-invasive Micro-test Technology (NMT), Global imOme Project (GiP), New Biology Dogma

（DNA → RNA → Protein → imOme → Phenotype）

doi : 10.5281/zenodo.17464317

1 "Life = f(Environment, t)" - From Philosophical Speculation to Scientific Framework

1.1 Philosophical Origins and Profound Implications

Humanity's exploration of the relationship between life and environment has a long history. The concept of "Harmony between Heaven and Humanity ‘天人合一’" in ancient Chinese philosophy represents a profound understanding of the inseparable unity between life and the natural environment (许越, 2023). This philosophy posits that life is not an isolated existence but maintains its dynamic balance through continuous interaction and exchange with its environment. The formula Life = f(Environment, t) is a modern, scientific expression of this ancient wisdom (Figure. 1).

Figure 1. Interpretation of the relationship between Chinese traditional ‘天人合一’ wisdom to Life = f(Environment, t).The core implications of this formula can be broken down as follows:L(Life): "Life" here extends beyond its biological definition, representing the comprehensive state of a living system at a specific moment. This includes not only macroscopic phenotypes (such as health, growth, disease) but also encompasses microscopic physiological functions, metabolic activities, and stress responses. It is a dynamically changing dependent variable; E(Environment): "Environment" is the sum of all external factors affecting the state of life. It is a multidimensional variable set, covering the physical environment (e.g., temperature, light, humidity), chemical environment (e.g., pH, ion concentration, nutrients, toxic substances), and biological environment (e.g., microbial communities, interspecies interactions); t (Time): "Time" is a crucial dimension in this formula, emphasizing the dynamic nature of life-environment interactions. All life processes unfold along the time axis; life's responses, adaptations, aging, and evolution all depend on the time scale; f (Functional Relationship): "f" represents the complex, nonlinear, multi-level interaction mechanisms between living systems and their environment. It describes how organisms perceive environmental signals and regulate their own state through a series of physiological and biochemical reactions (fundamentally exchanges of matter and energy). Interpreting and quantifying this "f" is one of the core challenges of modern life sciences.

For a long time, life science research, particularly the "decoding life" paradigm represented by genomics, has been largely static and descriptive. The proposal of the Life = f(Environment, t) formula signifies a call for a paradigm shift: from "static decoding" to "dynamic regulation," moving the research focus from the internal composition of living organisms (What it is) to their dynamic interaction processes with the environment (How it works).

1.2 Formation of the Scientific Framework: From Abstract to Concrete

Transforming this philosophical concept into a scientific framework requires the ability to observe and quantify the interactions between organisms and their environment in real-time, in vivo, and in situ. Traditional research methods (such as destructive sampling, in vitro analysis) cannot capture the dynamic processes represented by "f". The emergence and maturation of Non-invasive Micro-test Technology (NMT) among other similar techniques, such as MIFE (Newman, 2001; Shabala & Newman, 1997)(Newman, 2001; Shabala & Newman, 1997)  SRIES (McLamore et al., 2011; Reid & Zhao, 2011; Smith et al., 1999)  and SIET (Lin et al., 2013; Nawata et al., 2010) (Marenzana et al., 2005; Pierson et al., 1994)etc., provided a crucial technological breakthrough for this transition. NMT can directly measure the flux (i.e., exchange rate) of specific ions and molecules in micrometer-scale regions on the surface of living samples, thereby transforming the abstract concept of "interaction" into quantifiable data streams (季丹丹 等, 2015; 贾代东等., 2017.; 迟 et al., 2021).

Based on NMT technology, the concept of "Life as Environment" was proposed, suggesting that the essential boundary between life and environment lies in the mechanisms of information exchange and energy conversion, and that the fundamental units constituting both are ions and molecules (许越, 2023)(Sun et al., 2024; Xu, 2023). This provides a solid physicochemical foundation for Life = f(Environment, t) and gave rise to the new disciplinary field of Ionic & Molecular Omics (imOmics).