New method to calculate the work energy of information and organisms

An organism’s work energy, including the information embodied in the genes, is denoted as eco-exergy to emphasize that it has a particular reference state – the same ecosystem at thermodynamic equilibrium. The embodied information for various organisms has previously been reported as β-values based on Kullbach’s measure of information. This approach has been questioned whether it really is possible to use Kullbach’s information for the genomes to calculate the work energy embodied in the organisms – it means the information that is controlling life processes? By using Boltzmann’s equation for the free energy of information, it is possible to calculate the β-values by a new and transparent method. This method presented here was found to give approximately the same results of the β-values as the previously applied method for the three organisms illustrated (human, field mouse and yeast (Sacchararomyces cerevisae)). The short communication presents a discussion about how an organism’s work energy is covered by eco-exergy calculations and the details of the new method to calculate an organism’s work energy.