Gr. Ivanitsky et al., From Maxwell's Demon to the self-organization of mass transfer processes in living systems, USP FIZ NAU, 168(11), 1998, pp. 1221-1233
As a result of cyclic interactions with their environment, microparticles a
re often drawn into a directed, stochastically determined motion and subseq
uently arrange themselves into dynamical structures. In the present review,
the possibility of a directed motion of microparticles in the presence of
weak, asymmetric, periodic governing fields is analyzed. The minimum energy
requirement for changing from random to directed motion is estimated. Appl
ications to regulatory processes in biosystems, such as the virus-bacterium
interaction and intercellular movement of vesicles, enzymes, and ions, are
discussed and certain high-technology uses of these effects considered.