A peer-reviewed article titled 'On the origin of biological teleonomy' by Deng S has been published in the journal BioSystems (2026). Teleonomy refers to the appearance of purposefulness or goal-directedness in living systems, and the question of where such directedness originates in biological matter connects directly to debates in consciousness studies about basal cognition and proto-intentionality. Beyond the title and publication details, nothing about the paper's actual findings can be reported here.
No abstract was available at the time of this dispatch. That absence means the study's method, evidence, arguments, sample or scope, and any conclusions are entirely unknown. It is not possible to say whether the paper is empirical, theoretical, or computational, nor whether it advances any specific claim about the physical or informational conditions under which goal-directed behavior first appears in living matter.
The journal BioSystems publishes work at the intersection of biology, information theory, and systems science, and peer review confirms the manuscript passed editorial scrutiny, but peer review alone does not establish the strength or correctness of any argument. Without access to the abstract or full text, the evidence quality cannot be assessed.
For consciousness researchers, the topic carries genuine relevance. How purposive behavior emerges from physical processes that are not themselves purposive sits at the edge of the hard problem, and accounts of teleonomy's origin could inform or constrain models of basal cognition. Whether this paper contributes to that conversation in any substantive way remains to be determined once the full text is accessible.
Source: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biosystems.2025.105662