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Hi, I'm Maël Montévil.

I am a theoretical biologist working at the crossroads of experimental biology, mathematics, and philosophy. I also work on the Anthropocene, among many other interests.

I am a researcher (Chargé de recherche) in CNRS, working in Centre Cavaillès République des Savoirs UAR 3608, École Normale Supérieure.

Key concepts: historicity, organization as closure of constraints, anti-entropy, symmetry changes, biological measurement, disruption

Latest Publications

  1. Plaine Commune, contributive learning territory

    Memories for the Future: Thinking with Bernard Stiegler

    The contributive economy is a strategy to disrupt technological disruption by developing knowledge in all its forms. This program has led to several concrete working groups in Plaine Commune.

    Abstract

    The program Plaine Commune, contributive learning territory, started in late 2016. It emerged from the theoretical work of Bernard Stiegler and the Ars Industrialis group. The contributive economy is a strategy to disrupt technological disruption by developing knowledge in all its forms. This program has led to several concrete working groups in Plaine Commune, while others are still developing. Mainly, work is taking place on the economy, digital urbanism, and young children’s development in the context of the overuse of digital media. Here, we focus on the group on digital media and young children’s development and how academics and inhabitant works integrate.

    Citation
    Montévil, Maël. 2023. “Plaine Commune, Contributive Learning Territory.” In Memories for the Future: Thinking with Bernard Stiegler, edited by Bart Buseyne, Georgios Tsagdis, and Paul Willemarck
    Manuscript Citation Full text
  2. Modeling organogenesis from biological first principles

    Modeling organogenesis from biological first principles

    Organization in Biology: Foundational Enquiries into a Scientific Blindspot

    Here we discuss the application and articulation of biological principles for mathematical modeling of morphogenesis in the case of mammary ductal morphogenesis, with an emphasis on the default state.

    Abstract

    Unlike inert objects, organisms and their cells have the ability to initiate activity by themselves, and thus change their properties or states even in the absence of an external cause. This crucial difference led us to search for principles suitable for the study organisms. We propose that cells follow the default state of proliferation with variation and motility, a principle of biological inertia. This means that in the presence of sufficient nutrients, cells will express their default state. We also propose a principle of variation that addresses two central features of organisms, variation and historicity. To address interdependence between parts, we use a third principle, the principle of organization: more specifically, the notion of the closure of constraints. Within this theoretical framework, constraints are specific theoretical entities defined by their relative stability with respect to the processes they constrain. Constraints are mutually dependent in an organized system and act on the default state.
    Here we discuss the application and articulation of these principles for mathematical modeling of morphogenesis in a specific case, that of mammary ductal morphogenesis, with an emphasis on the default state. Our model has both a biological component, the cells, and a physical component, the matrix that contains collagen fibers. Cells are agents that move and proliferate unless constrained; they exert mechanical forces that i) act on collagen fibers and ii) on other cells. As fibers are organized, they constrain the cells’ ability to move and to proliferate. This model exhibits a circularity that can be interpreted in terms of the closure of constraints. Implementing our mathematical model shows that constraints to the default state are sufficient to explain the formation of mammary epithelial structures. Finally, the success of this modeling effort suggests a step-wise approach whereby additional constraints imposed by the tissue and the organism can be examined in silico and rigorously tested by in vitro and in vivo experiments, in accordance with the organicist perspective we embrace.

    Citation
    Montévil, Maël, and Ana Soto. 2023. “Modeling Organogenesis from Biological First Principles.” In Organization in Biology: Foundational Enquiries into a Scientific Blindspot, edited by Matteo Mossio. Springer Nature
    Manuscript Citation Full text
  3. Normativité et infidélités du milieu : actualités biologiques de Canguilhem

    Normativité et infidélités du milieu : actualités biologiques de Canguilhem

    La philosophie et ses dehors

    Quelques remarques sur la pertinence de la philosophie de Canguilhem sur les enjeux contemporains, de la medecine par la preuve à la disruption des organisations biologiques.

    Citation
    Montévil, Maël. 2023. “Normativité et Infidélités Du Milieu : Actualités Biologiques de Canguilhem.” In La Philosophie et Ses Dehors. Centre Lauragais d’Études Scientifiques
    Manuscript Citation Full text

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Popular Publications

  1. Biological organisation as closure of constraints

    Biological organisation as closure of constraints

    Journal of Theoretical Biology

    We characterize biological organization as a closure of constraints, where constraints are defined at a given time scale and are interdependent.

    Abstract

    We propose a conceptual and formal characterisation of biological organisation as a closure of constraints. We first establish a distinction between two causal regimes at work in biological systems: processes, which refer to the whole set of changes occurring in non-equilibrium open thermodynamic conditions; and constraints, those entities which, while acting upon the processes, exhibit some form of conservation (symmetry) at the relevant time scales. We then argue that, in biological systems, constraints realise closure, i.e. mutual dependence such that they both depend on and contribute to maintaining each other. With this characterisation in hand, we discuss how organisational closure can provide an operational tool for marking the boundaries between interacting biological systems. We conclude by focusing on the original conception of the relationship between stability and variation which emerges from this framework.

    Keywords: Biological organisation, Closure, Constraints, Symmetries, Time scales

    Citation
    Montévil, Maël, and Matteo Mossio. 2015. “Biological Organisation as Closure of Constraints.” Journal of Theoretical Biology 372 (May): 179–91. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jtbi.2015.02.029
    Manuscript Citation Publisher Full text
  2. Theoretical principles for biology: Organization

    Theoretical principles for biology: Organization

    Progress in Biophysics and Molecular Biology

    In the search of a theory of biological organisms, we propose to adopt organization as a theoretical principle and define it as closure of constraints.

    Abstract

    Abstract In the search of a theory of biological organisms, we propose to adopt organization as a theoretical principle. Organization constitutes an overarching hypothesis that frames the intelligibility of biological objects, by characterizing their relevant aspects. After a succinct historical survey on the understanding of organization in the organicist tradition, we offer a specific characterization in terms of closure of constraints. We then discuss some implications of the adoption of organization as a principle and, in particular, we focus on how it fosters an original approach to biological stability, as well as and its interplay with variation.

    Keywords: Theoretical principle, Organization, Constraints, Closure, Stability, Organicism

    Citation
    Mossio, Matteo, Maël Montévil, and G. Longo. 2016. “Theoretical Principles for Biology: Organization.” Progress in Biophysics and Molecular Biology 122 (1): 24–35. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pbiomolbio.2016.07.005
    Manuscript Citation Publisher Full text
  3. Theoretical principles for biology: Variation

    Theoretical principles for biology: Variation

    Progress in Biophysics and Molecular Biology

    Biological variation should be given the status of a fundamental theoretical principle in biology. Variation goes with randomness, historicity and contextuality.

    Abstract

    Abstract Darwin introduced the concept that random variation generates new living forms. In this paper, we elaborate on Darwin’s notion of random variation to propose that biological variation should be given the status of a fundamental theoretical principle in biology. We state that biological objects such as organisms are specific objects. Specific objects are special in that they are qualitatively different from each other. They can undergo unpredictable qualitative changes, some of which are not defined before they happen. We express the principle of variation in terms of symmetry changes, where symmetries underlie the theoretical determination of the object. We contrast the biological situation with the physical situation, where objects are generic (that is, different objects can be assumed to be identical) and evolve in well-defined state spaces. We derive several implications of the principle of variation, in particular, biological objects show randomness, historicity and contextuality. We elaborate on the articulation between this principle and the two other principles proposed in this special issue: the principle of default state and the principle of organization.

    Keywords: Variability, Historicity, Genericity, Biological randomness, Organization, Theory of organisms

    Citation
    Montévil, Maël, Matteo Mossio, A. Pocheville, and G. Longo. 2016. “Theoretical Principles for Biology: Variation.” Progress in Biophysics and Molecular Biology 122 (1): 36–50. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pbiomolbio.2016.08.005
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Latest videos

  2. Qu’appelle-t-on disruption en biologie?

    Le terme de disruption est utilisé largement en biologie, mais il a été peu théorisé. Qu'est ce qui distingue les disruptions des perturbations ou du concept très générique de "disturbances" en écologie? Nous défendrons l'idée que les disruptions demandent de comprendre le vivant à la fois dans son historicité et de manière systémique. Au cours du temps, notamment évolutif, le vivant se transforme et fait apparaître des traits singuliers, qui sont fonctionnels grâce à leurs singularités. Ceci constitue ce que nous avons appelé par ailleurs l'anti-entropie. Alors le premier type de disruption est la randomisation de cette singularité, conduisant à une perte de viabilité, qu'il s'agit toutefois de définir avec précision. Il y a cependant un deuxième type de disruption. Si le premier type correspond à la perte du résultat de l'histoire constituant une organisation, le deuxième type correspond à la perte de la capacité à produire des nouveautés fonctionnelles. Dans les deux cas, les disruptions sont un aspect essentiellement qualitatif de l’Anthropocène et de ce qui atteint à la fois la biodiversité et la santé humaine.

  3. Technologie et vivant : disruption et normativité

    Les biologistes décrivent actuellement une multitude de disruptions ayant lieu à tous les niveaux d’organisation du vivant, humains et non-humains. Ces disruptions proviennent principalement des technologies, qu’il s’agisse de la machine thermique issue de la première révolution industrielle, et du changement climatique subséquent, de la chimie avec notamment les perturbateurs endocriniens qui en sont issus, ou du numérique avec l’immixtion des écrans dans la relation parents-jeunes enfants (dans le cas des humains). Les infidélités du milieu ne sont pas étrangères au vivant comme le soulignait Canguilhem, mais la spécificité de ces disruption est leur rythme qui excède les capacité normative du vivant, humain et non-humain, conduisant à une contrepartie biologique de ce que Stiegler appelait la disruption comme régime actuel des sociétés humaines. Nous insisterons sur les conséquences de ces disruptions concernant le développement humain, biologique et psychique, et nous indiquerons des réponses possibles face à ces disruptions.

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  3. screenshot of Philosophy World Democracy

    PWD avatar PWD

    Philosophy World Democracy

    Il ne s’agira pas d’une démocratie mondiale, car il faut que les peuples se composent et se disposent.Mais nous affirmerons une essence démocratique du monde : peuplé par tous les vivants et par tous les parlants, tout entier configuré par leurs existences et par leurs paroles.

  4. screenshot of Groupe cardano

    Cardano

    Groupe cardano

    Nous sommes un groupe de mathématiciens qui dénonçons une mathématisation du monde orientée vers le contrôle, le quantitatif et le réductionnisme plutôt que vers l’invention et la construction de compréhensions.

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