Figure 7.
a) Simplified representation of a Markov blanket. Input nodes represent environmental states that transmit environmental VFE to a network of intermediate nodes, with conditional dependencies specified by a connectivity matrix Mij. Output nodes represent protected cell states that receive the “blanketed” VFE. It is natural to interpret distinct input nodes as transmitting the VFE of different dimensions of the environment, e.g. pathogenicity or toxicity. b) A network very near its percolation threshold: removing either link A or B results in opacity. On the other hand, adding any downward-going link between black nodes, or between black and green nodes, increases the cell’s exposure to its environment.