FULL TEXT - https://www.drjjamesfrost.com/post/intrinsic-cellular-computation-far-reaching-implications-for-solving-the-cancer-problem

In my article Cancer’s Intelligence I conjectured that cancer is able to compute survival solutions to future environmental changes that it has not yet encountered. That is, that cancer can predict the future and ready itself to adapt to new, yet unseen environmental conditions, whether a change in oxygen tension or a chemotherapeutic drug.

A recent, exceedingly relevant paper entitled Trade-offs between cost and information in cellular prediction by Tjalma et al analyzes cellular adaptation and lays out the conditions for prediction of a survival response to an adverse environmental change. The cellular response is an intrinsically computed solution to future external events using the cell’s internal computational machinery. Historically, it has been thought that only higher organisms “can predict the future environment and initiate a response ahead of time”, but this is not the case.

At bottom, energy and time are two key computational limits. Energy (free energy) for computation, storing information, and the protein synthesis needed for future actions limits computation of the optimal solution for future survival moves.  Time is a factor in computing solutions and a in sensing and sampling the current and past environments sufficiently finely for accurate predictions. Optimal time averaging for the cell is key, which also has the advantage of filtering noise.

The Tjalma article elucidates the informational bounds a cell can possibly have about the future. The costs of a bit of informational sampling and processing are computed and compared.  As information-processing humans, we extract only the most useful information from the past environment as we plan future actions – the cell does the same. How and under what conditions a cell approaches the information bound for its internal computation is examined in detail by exploring Markovian and non-Markovian models and by examining the necessary fineness of temporal sampling of the environment and the cell’s computational speed. The information bottleneck theory is key in this analysis, as it dictates information compression for storage and its costs.

The article is a challenging, yet rewarding read and one that is intimately related to the vast computation ability of the cancer cell and more importantly, cancer cell networks. In a way, this article is the missing link between cancer’s computation from instantaneous, present environmental conditions – the constrained regime held by most cancer biologists – to the tracking and selective sampling of the past and the present to the response to yet-unseen future events – just as human and higher animal computation occurs.

For more information on the molecular imaging aspects of cancer characterization, treatment, and monitoring, please visit BioMolecular Imaging, LLC http://biomolecularimaging.com

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Intrinsic Cellular Computation: Far Reaching Implications for Solving the Cancer Problem

In episode 1 we discuss why it’s important to study EDI across different language contexts and how we began the research process.

The Words for Leadership - Episode 1

It was the best of times, it was the worst of times. Two seemingly unrelated organisations are finding innovative ways to support youth in vulnerable situations, and promote community safety. Watch and listen again to this very pertinent BDAS event, where we heard from a youth boxing therapy charity from Bristol and an office for violence prevention from Edmonton, Canada – both working to reduce violence an ocean away.

Empire Fighting Chance uses a powerful combination of non-contact boxing and intensive personal support to challenge and inspire young people aged 8 to 25 to realise their unique potential.

REACH Edmonton Council for Safe Communities is a non-profit agency that acts as a hub for coordination, action, and focus on community safety and well-being. (Think of them as the ‘glue’ that brings and holds collaborative partnerships together.) They’ve been touted internationally for their work as an office for violence prevention, which is an entity whose central mandate is to prevent different forms of violence.

After meeting at an urban peace conference in Columbia, the two organisations are bringing international lessons to improve support for youth in their respective cities. Now, Bristol is on the brink of creating its own office for violence prevention inspired by REACH. And in Edmonton, local not-for-profits are banding together to build a youth boxing program modeled after Empire Fighting Chance.

The panel was led by Alex Beresford, TV presenter and Empire Fighting Chance Ambassador, and included: Martin Bisp (Co-Founder & CEO, Empire-Fighting Chance); Jan Fox (Executive Director, REACH Edmonton); Dr Craig Johnston (Senior Lecturer in Criminology, UWE Bristol); and Mariella Miller-Davies (Fundraising Assistant and Youth Voice Ambassador, Empire Fighting Chance).

About the organisations

Empire Fighting Chance delivers four psychologically informed non-contact boxing programmes that help young people get back into education, exit gangs, and reduce youth violence. They also share the impact and methodology of their programmes to a network of boxing clubs, mental health services, and community based organisations across the UK and the world. And, they fight alongside their network for political and policy change to reduce social inequality and amplify the impact and success of early intervention sport based programmes.

REACH Edmonton Council for Safe Communities is a highly-trusted organisation in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, that brings together community, service agencies and government to get things done, with the ultimate aim of preventing violence to create safer communities. REACH plays a convening role, leading or supporting more than 30+ community partnerships in areas that have an upstream effect on community safety and well-being such as child, youth and family well-being; and mitigating addiction and mental health problems.

Listen more from the Bristol Distinguished Address Series: https://soundcloud.com/uwebristol/sets/bristol-distinguished-address
Watch the Bristol Distinguished Address Series: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLrOzUDjo8U6JTeJ02D-Bo_EtA47W6vG-T  
Learn more about the Bristol Distinguished Address Series: https://www.uwe.ac.uk/events/bristol-distinguished-address-series

Useful links: 

Martin Bisp, Empire Fighting Chance: bit.ly/4kn9Glb
Empire Fighting Chance Team: https://empirefightingchance.org/who-we-are/our-people/
Jan Fox: https://reachedmonton.ca/staff-board/jan-fox/
REACH, Edmonton: https://reachedmonton.ca/
Dr Craig Johnston, UWE Bristol: https://people.uwe.ac.uk/Person/CJohnston
Watershed: https://www.watershed.co.uk/

Empire Fighting Chance & REACH Edmonton | Bristol Distinguished Address Series

In this special collaboration with Bristol’s 2025 Festival of Nature on the theme of ‘Water’, we heard from an expert panel about rivers as the ancient ‘gut health’ of our planet. They explored the crucial role of rivers in the carbon cycle and our ecosystem, the research work and citizen science that is being carried out to learn more about them, the campaigns to keep our waters clean - and what we can be doing to nurture and enjoy rivers in our cities and beyond.

Our panel was led by Professor Darren Reynolds, Pro Vice-Chancellor, Research & Knowledge Exchange, UWE Bristol, and included guests, Emma Brisdion, Communications & Campaigns Manager, The Rivers Trust and UWE Bristol Alum; Dr Eva Perrin, Research Fellow in River Pollution, University of Plymouth and UWE Bristol Alum; Hedvig Lyche, Chief Sustainability Officer, Additive Catchments; and Mehbooba Ferdoush, a cold water swimmer. We also had a special screening of the trailer for the Bristol-made documentary film, ‘Rave On For The Avon’, courtesy of EightySita.

The post-even drinks included a special rivers-themed exhibition by Devon-based photographer and artist, William Templeton, curated watery texts from Bristol independent bookseller, Bookhaus, and stalls from ‘Rave On For The Avon’ and water-testing organisation, MolEndoTech, who demo’d their rapid water quality analysis device with the audience.

Listen more from the Bristol Distinguished Address Series: https://soundcloud.com/uwebristol/sets/bristol-distinguished-address
Watch the Bristol Distinguished Address Series: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLrOzUDjo8U6JTeJ02D-Bo_EtA47W6vG-T  
Learn more about the Bristol Distinguished Address Series: www.uwe.ac.uk/events/bristol-dis…hed-address-series 

Useful links:

Festival of Nature 2025: https://www.bnhc.org.uk/festival-of-nature/
Professor Darren Reynolds, UWE Bristol: https://people.uwe.ac.uk/Person/DarrenReynolds
Emma Brisdion, The Rivers Trust: https://www.linkedin.com/in/emma-brisdion/?originalSubdomain=uk
The Rivers Trust: https://theriverstrust.org/
Dr Eva Perrin, University of Plymouth: https://www.plymouth.ac.uk/staff/eva-perrin
Hedvig Lyche, Chief Sustainability Officer, Additive Catchments: https://www.linkedin.com/in/hedvig-lyche-4a433710/
Additive Catchments: https://additivecatchments.com/
Rave On For The Avon: https://www.eightysita.com/raveonfortheavondocumentary
Photographer William Templeton: https://williamjoshuatempleton.com/
Bookhaus: https://www.bookhausbristol.com/
MolEndoTech: https://molendotech.com/
Watershed: https://www.watershed.co.uk/

Festival of Nature | Bristol Distinguished Address Series

In this latest episode, we are joined by Dr Appolinaire Etoundi, Senior Lecturer and Researcher in Mechatronics at UWE Bristol. From pioneering low-cost prosthetic legs to developing AI-driven assistive devices, Appolinaire is reshaping how technology intersects with healthcare and his vision to create a centre that uses AI, 3D scanning and printing to tailor affordable prosthetics in real time is captivating. The driving force for the vision is entirely user-centred - a career shift motivated by being challenged by a gold medal winning Para Olympian to consider making joints for people rather than robots... His mission is to design technology that empowers and not excludes.

Interesting fact: The temperature in a prosthetic leg socket can reach 47-49 Celsius after 90 minutes of walking! There is so much to be done to improve this and many other aspects of living with prosthetics. 

Let's Talk Health and Care Podcast Ep#8: Revolutionising Assistive Technologies with affordable innovation

In Episode 7 part one we talk to Fernando who is a leader in a Spanish University and consider  his experiences of working in a multinational University when educating students in different languages and also consider the implications for EDI in this context.

The Words for Leadership - Episode 7 Part 1

In Episode 7 part two we continue the conversation with Fernando to consider how inclusive leadership translates and to consider how leaders can navigate this process across different contextual and linguistic contexts.

The Words for Leadership - Episode 7 Part 2

An in-depth look into the barriers underserved entrepreneurs face in accessing financial services. Aimed at surfacing unseen challenges and lived experiences, with representation from entrepreneurs and financial institutions.

Topics: Personal financial history, credit access, banking assumptions, gender bias in funding.
Theme: How systemic design leaves people out — and what’s lost because of it.

Fear of Finding Out - Episode 1

In Episode 8 part one, Marguerite Weber of Weber Michel Associates talks about her experiences in the banking sector as an executive recruiter. She considers how things have changed over the last 40 years and how in setting up her own company she resolved to do things differently.

The Words for Leadership - Episode 8 Part 1

In Episode 8 part two, Marguerite Weber continues to reflect upon how her own cultural background and identity influences her EDI and leadership practices  and whether the concept of inclusive leadership can be translatable.

The Words for Leadership - Episode 8 Part 2

Molecular imaging Specialist
Clinical trials reader
Clinical radiology and nuclear medicine
Consulting for pharma, CROs, diagnostics, and biotech
Strategic partnering across industry, academia and government
Early stage companies and investment

Intrinsic Cellular Computation: Far Reaching Implications for Solving the Cancer Problem

Dr. J. James Frost

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