Salih Meri Al-Absi1,2, Muayad M. Maseer3, Kumail Abdulkareem Hadi Al-Gburi4
1Department of Refrigeration and Air-Conditioning, College of Technical Engineering Sawa University, Al
Muthanna, Samawa, Iraq
2
Iraqi Cement State Company, Ministry of Industry and Minerals, Baghdad, Iraq
3College of Graduate Studies (COGS), University Tenaga Nasional (UNITEN), 43000 Kajang, Selangor,
Malaysia.
4College of Engineering, Al-Muthanna University, Al-Muthanna, Iraq

Abstract
The consideration of non-equilibrium thermodynamics (NET), has become a central theme in the
interpretation of intricate behaviours of complex biological systems. Life is at its core a process far
from equilibrium, driven by persistent energy and mass flow. In this review, we provide an overview of
the recent theoretical and computational developments in NET from 2018 to 2025 based on the
comprehensive literature survey of more than half a century by considering more than 50 Scopus
indexed papers. The paradigm in energy transduction and dissipative structures that we need to disclose
is set by the earliest incursions of quantitative biology into cellular metabolism. The reviewer next
explains in detail the theoretical developments of stochastic thermodynamics and the framework of
information thermodynamics, which offers means to quantify entropy production rates, fluctuation
theorems and acting quantities characterising energetic costs arising from biological accuracy. A large
part is devoted to state of the-art computational methods, such as thermodynamically corrected coarse
grained molecular dynamics and agent-based models. In order to compile findings from different
studies, we display table review summaries about the results, methodology and advice of leading
authors. To illustrate the potential of NET, their application in addressing specific biological disorder
related phenomena circadian rhythms and dynamics, cancer metabolism, cellular sensing system s, and
neural dynamics is scrutinized to exhibit how they may explain or predict the behavior of a disease. Last
but not least, remaining challenges of the real time measurement of cellular entropy production and the
multiscale coupling are summarized with an outlook for future research to apply artificial intelligence in
connection with thermodynamic models and implement thermodynamic therapies. The combined
evidence supports AFF tactic as a necessary lingua franca to advance beyond descriptive ecology
towards predictive, quantitative biology of life.

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