Toward an optimal design principle in relational biology

A vulnerability criterion is posed for a biological system within the context of representing the system as a relational set, i.e., a collection of components whose interdependency is described by means of a set of binary relations. The criterion provides a numerical value for each representation and therefore a means for comparing one representation against another. Choice of the criterion is such that the larger a numerical value a representation has then the less vulnerable to destruction is the system represented. Other things being equal, it is argued that the representation which endows the system with the least vulnerability is more likely to be a valid representation. A selection criterion is thereby achieved for narrowing down the choice ofa priori representations.