  Here we develop an approach to bio-structural robustness integrated with
structure-function relationship in a unified conceptual and methodological
framework, and envision its study using adequate computational and experimental
methods. To distinguish this structural robustness from the abstract
organizational robustness of systems, we call it anapedesis, and define it as
the scale-independent property of biological objects, from biomolecules to
organisms, to deform and recover while minimizing and/or repairing the damage
produced by stretch. We propose to study the consequences of deformation of
biological objects closer to their structural and/or functional failure than
previously considered relevant. We show that structural robustness is present
as a basic principle in many facets of biomedicine: many pathological
conditions may derive from the failure of molecules, cells and their
higher-order assemblies to maintain robustness against deformation.
Furthermore, structural robustness could have been the key selective criterion
during pre-biotic evolution and afterwards, and its universality can be
demonstrated by modeling using genetic algorithms. Thus, the specific
investigation of bio-structural robustness as anapedesis could help the solving
of fundamental problems of biology and medicine.
