Interpretation of the Biological Essence of Meridians with Plant Neurobiology and Animal Nerval Evolution

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Yin Dazhong ^{a, b, ,} and Zhao Linli^b

^a Guangdong Provincial Academy of Chinese Medical Science,

Guangdong Provincial Hospital of TCM, Dade Road 111,

Guangzhou 510120, China

^b Key Laboratory of Protein Chemistry and Developmental

Biology of Ministry of Education, College of Life Sciences,

Hunan Normal University, Changsha, Hunan 410081, China

Received 19 October 2009. 

Available online 4 September 2010.

Abstract

In the absence of a clear and independent anatomical structure, the biological nature of meridians (Jingluo) and the mechanism of acupuncture and moxibustion and so on to prevent and cure diseases in the traditional Chinese medicine remain mysterious. Through summary and analysis of the evolution of animal nervous system and comparison with the information transmission systems of plants (the so-called “plant neurobiology”), the common biological structure and the basic law of information transmission of biological system were open-mindedly reviewed and described in this paper. For the first time, the biological information transmission systems were classified into three major levels as follows: (1) the brain-related central nervous system (the neural level), (2) the vessel-dependent information transmission system without the typical nerval structure (the vessel level), and (3) the intercellular and the cell-environmental signal communication systems (the cellular level). Electronic and biochemical signal transmissions were pinpointed as two major means of information dissemination pattern in the life system. In summary, the complicated information transmission functions and traits of the meridians are suggested as an interplay of the performances of the three major systems applying electronic and physicochemical materials, namely the “321-Integration Theory” of meridians.

Key words: Acupuncture and moxibustion (AM); animal nerval evolution; meridians (Jingluo); biological information transmission (BIT); plant neurobiology