Description
The Indispensable Soma Hypothesis holds that: «humans who are suitably integrated within a technological,
information-rich cognitive environment, and who are indispensable to the adaptability of such environment, may experience a reversal of their resource allocation priorities from the germline to the soma, resulting in improved somatic repair and progressive reduction of
age-related degeneration». The information load which is associated with being a functional agent within a
techno-cognitive, increasingly complex ecosystem is likely to invoke natural principles and mechanisms, and will reverse the current energetic
trade-offs which ensure high repair fidelity in the germline. Instead, this
information-sharing process is likely to lead to sequestration of resources away from the germline, and to a sequence of events which will eventually favour the continual repair and long term survival of somatic neurons.
In a clinical setting, a study can be made of telomere length (or telomerase expression) in people who are meaningfully connected on line, compared to those who are not connected, (matched for age, sex, education, health status, lifestyle and other parameters) perhaps living in a totally agricultural setting. This observational, case-control study which may indicate that those who are meaningfully hyperconnected on line experience a lengthening of their somatic telomeres and perhaps, a selective shortening of their germline telomeres.
We could also evaluate biomarkers which indicate if a stress response has been activated. Following exposure to meaningful information there is ex * pression (in neurons) of factors such as the endoplasmic reticulum stress response factor IRE5 which may then interfere with normal germ line function. Thus, evaluating this and similar biomarkers may prove an effective way of studying some basic premises of the hypothesis.
