organisimi

Organisimi is a term found in some interdisciplinary discussions to denote the study of how biological units organize into higher-order functional systems. The word appears as a neologism rather than a fixed, widely used label, and its precise meaning can vary by author. It commonly blends concepts from organismal biology with principles of organization and complexity, and may be used as an umbrella for research that traverses cell biology, development, ecology, and systems theory.

Scope and usage: In some usages, organisimi refers to the organization principles that enable a single cell to form tissues, tissues to form organs, and organs to function within an organism, as well as how organisms interact within communities and ecosystems. In others, it denotes a proposed framework for analyzing multi-level organization and emergent properties across biological hierarchies. Related fields include systems biology, developmental biology, ecology, and sociobiology.

Key concepts include hierarchical structure, modularity, feedback regulation, robustness, redundancy, and the evolution of complexity. Common methods involve computational modeling, network analysis, comparative genomics, live imaging, and experimental perturbations.

Relation to established terms: Organisimi is not a standard taxonomic or explanatory term in mainstream biology. It is sometimes treated as a conceptual or speculative framework, or used in fiction and philosophy of biology. When encountered in scholarly work, its definition is typically clarified by authors to avoid confusion with established terms such as organism, systems biology, or emergence.

See also: organism, systems biology, development, ecology, emergence, holobiont.