Natures Trademark Phi

A review report on the occurrence of the golden ratio in nature

Photo Rahul Gupta

Rahul Gupta (grahul@iitk.ac.in)

Kshitij Saxena (ksaxena@iitk.ac.in)

Biological Sciences and Bio Engineering

IIT Kanpur
1

Abstract

Nature has engineered many of its parts based on the golden ratio(phi).
Phi is the ratio of consecutive Fibonacci Numbers as the series tends to
infinity. Be it the seeds in a sunflower, or the ratio of the length of our body to that of our
torso, or the structure of the DNA- surprisingly they all yield a single number "Phi" or
161803398874989484820...
In the report we explore this Holy grail of Natures design and also try and propose
reasons as to why is this number so basic in the architecture of nature.

Index

Introduction- An overview of Phi

In the DNA- Occurrence of Phi in THE molecule of life
In Cell division- Occurrence of Phi in a process common to all living entities
In the Cell structure- Occurrence of Phi in the vessel of life
In the Human Body- Occurrence of Phi in the greatest creation
Why Phi?- Simple question, but difficult answers
Geometrical structures exhibiting Phi- Looking around to see the ocean of Phi
Phi in Plants- Strongest evidence of Phi
Why Phi again?- Simple question, better answers
Conclusion- Summing up the Holy grail of Natures design

Natures Trademark - Phi

Introduction
Does Nature play dice? It appears not. Nature has its set of biases in designing its
components. Quite interestingly Natures bias is heavily tilted towards one single
number, phi i.e. 161803398874989484820... This number appears in almost everything
ranging from sunflowers to sea shells to Drosophila to the human body- it is probably
Natures trademark. It is called the golden ratio.
So what is it that makes phi so special? We need to explore its properties to know more.
Phi is the ratio of consecutive numbers in the Fibonacci series as it tends to infinity. In
the Fibonacci series each number is the sum of two numbers preceding it.
( 0,1,1,2,3,5,8,13.) .
There are several other methods to come to the number Phi
Two quantities are said to be in the golden ratio, if "the whole
(i.e., the sum of the two parts) is to the larger part as the larger
part is to the smaller part", i.e. (a+b)/a = a/b. Quite
interestingly this ratio comes out to be phi.
Phi has strange mathematical properties too. There are just two numbers that remain the
same when they are squared namely 0 and 1. Other numbers get bigger and some get
smaller when we square them. Remarkably phi is also defined as :
Phi2 = Phi + 1
Many other interesting properties are
mentioned in Table 1.
These facts give us a certain degree of
insight into the golden ratio and will
be instrumental for us to decipher the
information stored by nature in this
special number.
But before probing the number
further we shall look into various
examples where this number shows
up and in the process we shall try an
uncover the mystery surrounding phi.

In the DNA
The DNA molecule, the program for all life, is based on the Golden section.
It measures 34 angstroms long by 21 angstroms wide for each full cycle of its double
helix spiral.34 and 21, of course, are numbers in the Fibonacci series and their ratio,
1.6190476 closely approximates Phi, 1.6180339. It is interesting to note as the
technology improves and we get more accurate dimensions the ratio keeps getting closer
to phi. It now appears that the ratio of the width to the vertical offset may also converge
to the same ratio.

Figure 1

Figure 2

Figure 2 shows how a cross-section of the DNA perfectly fits into a decagon formed of
golden elements.
The ratio becomes apparent in the frequency of bases in the DNA. Selvam (2002) using
statistical tools has shown that the frequency of A,T,C,G bases in the Drosophila genome.
His paper reads:
The observed fractal frequency distributions of the Drosophila DNA base sequences
exhibit quasicrystalline structure with long-range spatial correlations or self-organized
criticality The dominant peak periodicities are functions of the golden mean.
This way non-reductionist studies are opening new avenues for science to explore.

In Cell division
After having seen the golden ratio in the DNA, the basis of life on earth it will be
interesting to see if this ratio is translated from the DNA structure into the cell cycle.
Let us start with a mother cell A0. In cycle 1 there is just one cell A0.
In cycle2, A0 during the mitosis duplicates into two daughter cells 2 A1.
In cycle 3, the two mother cells, 2 A1, duplicate into four daughter cells: 4 A2
In cycle n, the 2n-2 An-2 cells, duplicate into 2n-1 daughter cells: 2n-1 An-1 .
The number sequence which represents the cell division is a geometrical series:
1, 2, 4, 8, 16, 32, 64, 128, 256, 512,
As we have seen, by geometrical model of cell division, each cycle leads to the new cells
of the same generation without surviving of the old cell. The cell A0 becomes older by
the law
t=n*T
where n is the number of the cycle and T is the period of of the cycle. But, by the
previous model the age of the cells is always T. That is in contradiction with the natural
law and with the reproduction of the multi cellular organisms. When we have
reproduction of the multi-cellular organisms the parents kept their generation and the
children represent a new generation.
This implies that Cell division results into two cells of different age!
We recognize them as the mother cell and the daughter cell.
So in cycle 2, A0 divides for the first time and produces her first daughter cell: A0 + A1
In cycle 3, the mother cell A0 reproduces into A0 + A1, as well as cell-daughter
reproduces into A1 + A2 . Now, three generations are present: A0 + 2 A1 + A2. In cycle 4,
the original mother cell produces another daughter cell. Two mother cells A1 reproduce
into 2 A1 + 2 A2. The mother cell A2 also produces its own daughter cell. Now four
generations are present:A0 + 3 A1 + 3 A2 + A3 ;
The number of cells in each cycle of cell division is : 1,3,4,7,11,18,29,47,76
That is Lucas series of numbers. Again this series has the characteristic that each term is
the sum of the two previous terms. Fibonacci series is also a particular kind of Lucas
series wherein the first two numbers are 0,1. Interestingly ratio of consecutive terms of
any Lucas series as it tends to infinity is phi, the golden ratio.

In the Cell structure

The ratio appears in certain very important structures of the cell. The hexagonal pattern
of microtubules exhibits the Fibonacci feature and it is found that this pattern is made up
of 5 right-handed and 8 left-handed helical arrangements.

View
down
a
microtubule! The 5 + 8
= 13 spiral arrangement
of the tubulins in this
microtubule can be
seen.
Imagine a microtubule
slit along its length, and
then opened out flat into
a strip. We find that the
tubulins are ordered in
sloping lines which
rejoin at the opposite
edge 5 or 8 places
displaced
(depending
upon whether the lines
slope to the right or to
the left).

It is curious, also, that the double

microtubules that frequently occur seem
normally to have a total of 21 columns of
tubulin dimers forming the outside
boundary of the composite tube - the next
Fibonacci number. Koruga (1974) argues
for a special efficiency in the case of
Fibonacci-number-related structure of
microtubules that may provide advantage in
its function as a "information processor".
There must indeed be some good reason
for this
kind
of
organization
in
microtubules, since although there is some
variation in the numbers that apply to
eukaryotic cells generally,13 columns
seems to be almost universal amongst
mammalian microtubules.

Figure 3

In the Human Body

If we look at the bigger picture now, the number can be seen in various human body parts
like the lungs and the heart.
Gibson et al (2003) conducted an anatomical study in 2093 people and demonstrated that
the Fibonacci cascade appears in the distribution of coronary artery lesions in the human
heart. In the study conducted the mean length of the artery was 15.3 cm. Figure 4 shows a
comparison between the expected and the observed lesion.

Figure 4

Similar studies by West et al.(1984) were performed on the branching network of

bronchial tubes in the lungs of multiple mammalian species, including humans. The
bronchial tubes repeatedly fork into two daughter structures of unequal length as shown
in Figure 5. In humans, the group examined the forking of tubes for seven generations
and found that the mean ratio between the branches was 0.62 0.02 (mean SEM).

Figure 5

In the body various organs team up to form an entire individual only to show the ratio
again. The M/m ratio in Figure 6 always comes out to be 1.618. The following have been
observed to be in the golden ratio.

The distance between the

finger tip and the elbow /
distance between the wrist
and the elbow.
The distance between the
shoulder line and the top of
the head / head length,
The distance between the
navel and knee / distance
between the knee and the end
of the foot.

Figure 6

One such historical observation that the ratio of the total height in humans to the vertical
height of the navel approximates the golden mean has been verified in a systematic study
by Davis (1979).

On a smaller scale this study was carried out by our team too. Our results are tabulated in
Table 2.
Height
(cm)
180
167
169
173
178
175
161.5
160
176
179

Navel to Toe Distance (cm)

Ratio

111
102
108
106
110
107
98
97.5
111

1.622
1.637
1.565
1.632
1.618
1.636
1.648
1.641
1.63
1.613

Average

1.624

108

Table 2

The human face abounds with examples of the golden ratio. The head forms a golden
rectangle (A rectangle whose sides are in the golden ratio) with the eyes at its midpoint.
The mouth and nose are each placed at golden sections of the distance between the eyes
and the bottom of the chin. The front two incisor teeth form a golden rectangle, with a phi
ratio in the height to the width. The human ear follows the pattern of the logarithmic
spiral which is intimately related to phi.
The golden ratio has become an important tool for beauty analysis
too. Computer generated masks based on phi have been created and
are being in plastic surgeries etc. We downloaded one such Phi
mask available on the net and used an image software to apply it to
various faces and test its utility. Some of our experiments are
shown in Figure. Apparently, the mask fits well on faces that are
generally considered attractive.
Figure 7

Figure 8

Why Phi?
It is worth noting that the number keeps recursively occurring as we move from one level
of complexity to another. This helps us draw an analogy between the Fibonacci numbers
and Nature. Both are self forming and self similar. Unlike most common day science
which is obsessed with the reductionist approach Phi gives an insight which is based on
synergy. It shows us that random may actually not be random but hold many a secrets for
us to explore.
Now, evolution is believed to progress through random events. The Golden Number
provides some remarkable insights. Wagner et al. (2003) have shown that the pattern of
repeats in the genome sequence follows the Fibonacci-Cayley index. Their paper reads:
This implies that essentially nothing but the rather obvious exponential growth of the
sequence length of the order of

can be concluded from the Fibonacci-Cayley

model of repetitive sequence growth even if very simple mutations only are admitted
during the growth process.
This shows that in spite of the random nature of insertion/deletion of repeats a definite
pattern of growth is followed. Probably that is why random events have given rise to an
ordered world today. Other studies carried out on evolution have yielded interesting
results relating to Phi.
Onody and Medeiros (1999) created mathematical age structured population model
containing all the relevant features of evolutionary aging theories. Their model took into
consideration beneficial and deleterious mutations, heredity, and arbitrary fecundity all
managed by natural selection. They showed that fertility is associated with generalized
forms of the Fibonacci sequence. But why Phi?
From a morphogenetic viewpoint, the generation of complex, irregular structures based
in part on principles of fractal self-similarity and Fibonacci proportionality may serve to
minimize constructional error (Thompson 1963). The propensity for this ratio to appear
in nature is also be because this ratio optimizes the efficiency of packing structures in a
limited space in such a way that wasted space is minimized and the supply of energy
of nutrients is optimized. This is elaborated in detail in our subsequent discussion of Phi
occurring in the arrangement of seeds.
Phi thus becomes a standing example of how coding information in different ways (in
this case Mathematics) makes us discover the ways Nature operates.
Mathematically Phi is considered to be the most irrational number and this again will
help us understand that why nature chose Phi as its favorite number.
The irrationality of phi is shown under:
As introduced,

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phi = (a + b) / a = a / b
where a is the larger part and b is the smaller part
Equivalently, they are in the golden ratio if the ratio of the larger one to the smaller one
equals the ratio of the smaller one to their difference, i.e. if

Dividing the numerator and denominator of the second fraction by b, we get

and replacing a/b by , we get

This becomes

or equivalently,

The solutions of this quadratic equation are

Since is positive, we have

(This is yet another way to ascertain the value of phi).

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Since 5 is irrational, it suffices to be a proof for the irrationality of phi. However

hereunder we also show why phi is the most irrational number around.
The quadratic obtained above can be written in the following form

which can be expanded to obtain a continued fraction for the golden ratio as follows:

This imparts the most irrational nature to phi. While other irrational numbers like and
e can be approximated with rational fractions like 22/7 etc., Phi cannot. The continued
fraction nature gives an implicit understanding to why Phi keeps occurring at each level
as we climb the ladders of complexity.
Now, having observed how Phi is expressed mathematically, it will be interesting to see
how it manifests in some of the more famous geometrical structures.

Geometrical structures exhibiting Phi

The golden ratio is crypted in a myriad of shapes we see around us everyday. The
simplest to begin looking into is the Golden Rectangle. If we start with two small squares
of size 1 next to each other and on top of both of these draw a square of size 2 (= 1 + 1)
and touching both a unit square and the latest square of side 2 - so having sides 3 units
long; and then another touching both the 2-square and the 3-square (which has sides of 5
units). And so on, we will get a figure where the size of squares follows the Fibonacci
sequence. The figure follows.

Figure 9

We can continue adding squares around the picture; each new square having a side which
is as long as the sum of the latest two square's sides. This set of rectangles whose sides

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are two successive Fibonacci numbers in length and which are composed of squares with
sides which are Fibonacci numbers, are called the Fibonacci Rectangles.

Figure 10

Here is a spiral drawn in the squares, a quarter of a circle in each square. The spiral is not
a true mathematical spiral (since it is made up of fragments which are parts of circles and
does not go on getting smaller and smaller) but it is a good approximation to a kind of
spiral that does appear often in nature. Such spirals are seen in the shape of shells of
snails and sea shells. The spiral-in-the-squares makes a line from the centre of the spiral
increase by a factor of the golden number in each square. So, points on the spiral are
1.618 times as far from the centre after a quarter-turn. In a whole turn the points on a
radius out from the center are 1.618 * 4 = 6.854 times further out than when the curve last
crossed the same radial line.
Following is an image of the Nautilus sea shell exhibiting close correlation with
Logarithmic spirals. In the pictures, we have an image of the Nautilus shell
superimposed on a Logarithmic spiral what a match!

Figure 11

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These images show the spiral curve of the Nautilus sea shell and the internal chambers
that the animal using it adds on as it grows. The chambers provide buoyancy in the water.
If a line is drawn from the center out in any direction and intersects two places on the
shell such that the shell spiral has gone round just once between the intersection points,
then, the outer crossing point will be about 1.6 times as far from the centre as the next
inner intersection point. This shows that the shell has grown by a factor of the golden
ratio in one turn.
Modelling of sea shells: The Nautilus sea shells adhere so much to the Logarithmic
spirals that the actual 3D models of sea shells may be made using mathematical
equations. Similarly, other sea shells may be modelled based on similar mathematical
principles. A few images showing such models follow.

Mathematical Models of the Nautilus shell

Figure 12

Mathematical models of other shells

Figure 13

Examples of curves based on the logarithmic spiral can be seen in the tusks of elephants
and the now-extinct mammoth, lions' claws and parrots' beaks. The eperia spider always
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weaves its webs in a logarithmic spiral. The spiral revolutions come closer together as
they approach the pole. Such a pattern can also be seen in human fingerprints. Among the
micro-organisms known as plankton, the bodies of globigerinae, planorbis, vortex,
terebra, turitellae and trochida are all constructed on spirals. Even sunflower seeds
arrange there seeds in the shape of the logarithmic spiral. This is discussed in detail in a
following section.

Figure 14

Figure 15

Using the Phi Matrix Software, we divided the rectangle surrounding the
moth in the golden ratio. It can be seen that many essential parts of the
moth fall at the points of intersection of the golden lines.

However, let us currently focus on more manifestations of Phi in simple geometrical

structures. One of such structures is the dodecahedron. It consists of 12 pentagonal faces,
and the icosahedron of 20 triangles. These shapes can all mathematically turn into one
another, and that this transformation takes place with ratios linked to the golden ratio.

15

Figure 16

For this we take three golden rectangles and assemble them at 90 degree angles to get a
3D shape with 12 corners as in Figure 16. The 12 corners become the 12 centers of each
of the 12 pentagons that form the faces of a dodecahedron. The 12 corners can also
become the 12 points of each of the 20 triangles that form the faces of a icosahedron.

Dodecahedron

Icosahedron
Figure 17

The protein sheath of the Adeno virus consists of 252 protein subunits, all regularly set
out. The 12 subunits in the corners of the icosahedron are in the shape of pentagonal
prisms. Rod-like structures protrude from these corners.
The first people to discover that viruses came in shapes containing the golden ratio were
Aaron Klug and Donald Caspar from Birkbeck College in London in the 1950s. The first
virus they established this in was the polio virus. The Rhino 14 virus has the same shape
as the polio virus.
Having seen the how Phi appears in basic geometrical structures, we are now in a better
position to directly visualize the manifestations of Phi in more complex natural
structures. So, let us go back to our sunflower problem and take it by the horns

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Phi in Plants
In botany, phyllotaxis or phyllotaxy is the arrangement of the leaves on the shoot of a
plant. It may also refer to the arrangement of flowers or buds on a stem or to the
arrangement of seeds on a flower. Basically, phyllotaxis refers to the morphological
arrangement of plant parts on supporting structures. There are four main types of
phyllotaxis found in nature. These are: 1) Distichous Phyllotaxis 2) Whorled Phyllotaxis
3) Spiral Phyllotaxis and 4) Multijugate Phyllotaxis.
Of these, we are primarily interested in spiral phyllotaxis and multijugate phyllotaxis
only.

Spiral Phyllotaxis (Figure 18)

In spiral phyllotaxis, botanical elements grow one by one, each at a constant divergence
angle d from the previous one. This is the most common pattern, and most often the
divergence angle d is close to the Golden Angle, which is about 137.5 degrees. The latter
case gives rise to Fibonacci Phyllotaxis. It is interesting to see how this angle is derived.
Vogel(1979) theorized that primordia, no matter what they developed into, could fill
space most efficiently when the divergence angle was an irrational part of 360. Most
intuitively if we divide 360 by 1.618 we get 222.5. This angle is the reflex angle and
subtracting it from 360 would give 137.5

Figure 19

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Multijugate phyllotaxis (Figure 20)

In multijugate phyllotaxis, two or more botanical elements (two in the example above)
grow at the same node. Elements in a whorl (group of elements at a node) are spread
evenly around the stem and each whorl is at a constant divergence angle d from the
previous one. Often, multijugate patterns look very similar to spiral patterns and the only
way to detect them is to count the number of spirals visible in the pattern.
Counting Spirals: To further classify spiral and multijugate patterns, one counts the
number of visible spirals, called parastichies, which join each element to its nearest
neighbors. These spirals normally come in two families, yielding a pair of numbers,
called parastichy numbers. If the parastichy numbers have no common divisor other than
1, the pattern is a spiral phyllotaxis. If the parastichy numbers do have a common divisor
k, then the pattern is multijugate (more precisely k-jugate) and there are k elements at
each node. If the parastichy numbers are (k, k), then, we get what is called the whorled
phyllotaxy.

Figure 21

The number of visible spirals gives the parastichy numbers. The number of spirals
clockwise / anti-clockwise together gives one set of parastichy numbers. The Aonium in
Fig 20 has parastichy numbers (2, 3). Since 1 is the only common divisor of 2 and 3, this
is a spiral pattern. Since spiral phyllotaxis can be viewed as 1-jugate, the notation 1(2, 3)
is also used for this pattern.

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Figure 22

The gymnocalycium in Fig 21 has parastichy numbers (10, 16), which have the common
divisor k=2. Hence this is a multijugate pattern (more precisely 2-jugate). The notation
2(5, 8) is also used to classify this pattern.
The configuration is a Fibonacci phyllotaxis when the parastichy numbers are successive
elements in the Fibonacci sequence. The case with identical parastichy numbers or k (1,
1) trivially belongs to Fibonacci phyllotaxis as (1, 1) are successive elements of the
Fibonacci sequence. This is the case of whorled phyllotaxis. Hence, all cases of whorled
phyllotaxis are also cases of Fibonacci phyllotaxis. Fibonacci phyllotaxis has the unique
property that the diversion angle approaches 137.5 - the golden ratio angle.

Mammilaria huitzilo
Clockwise: 13 spirals.
Anti-Clockwise: 21 spirals.
Parastichy numbers: (13, 21).
Spiral Phyllotaxis, Fibonacci Phyllotaxis
(Figure 23)

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Marguerite
Clockwise: 21 spirals. Anti-Clockwise: 34 spirals.
Parastichy numbers: (21, 34).
Spiral Phyllotaxis, Fibonacci Phyllotaxis
(Figure 24)

Knautia arvensis
Clockwise: 10 spirals. Anti-Clockwise: 6 spirals.
Parastichy numbers: 2 (3, 5).
Multijugate Phyllotaxis, Fibonacci Phyllotaxis
(Figure 25)

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Relative Frequency of Patterns: Spiral phyllotaxis is the most common kind of

phyllotactic pattern. According to a survey by Hutchinson, in a sample of 650
dicotyledonous families, 50.6% showed exclusively spiral or multijugate phyllotaxis,
14.7% showed exclusively whorled phyllotaxis while 34.7% showed a mixture of these
phyllotaxis. According to a compilation by Jean (1994) of many surveys of 650 species
and 12500 specimens, among plants showing spiral or multijugate phyllotaxis, about
92% showed Fibonacci phyllotaxis (with parastichy numbers successive elements in the
Fibonacci sequence).
Why Phi again?
This is the first question that comes to the mind when we realize that 92% of all plants
exhibiting spiral or multijugate phyllotaxies exhibit Fibonacci phyllotaxis. The reason
can be seen in a simple model of seed placement on a seed head.
Let us consider a fraction f of turns between two successive seed placements. Seeds
then grow farther from the meristematic centre at a constant radial speed. If we use
0.5 turns per seed,
Since 05=1/2 we get just 2 "arms" and the seeds use the space on the seedhead very
inefficiently: the seedhead is long and floppy.

A circular seedhead is more compact and would have better mechanical strength and so
be better able to withstand wind and heavy rain. Also, a circular seedhead seems more
efficient in terms of supporting tissue utilization.
0.48 turns per seed,

The seeds seem to be sprayed from two revolving "arms". This is because 048 is very
close to 05 and a half-turn between seeds would mean that they would just appear on
alternate sides, in a straight line. Since 048 is a bit less than 05, the "arms" seem to
rotate backwards a bit each time.

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0.6 turns per seed

06=3 / 5 so every 3 turns produce exactly 5 seeds and the sixth seed is at the same angle
as the first, the seventh in the same (angular) position as the second and so on.
0.61 turns per seed,

All three are for 0.61 turn per seeds but with increasing number of total seeds
This is significantly better. However, there are still large gaps between the seeds nearest
the centre, so the space is not best used.
In fact, any number which can be written as an exact ratio (a rational number) would not
be good as a turn-per-seed angle. If we use p/q as our angle-turn-between-successiveturns, then we will end up with q straight arms, the seeds being placed every p-th arm.
Hence, we should resort to the irrationals.
e (271828...) turns per seed

We notice that the e picture has 7 arms since its turns-per-seed is (two whole turns plus)
071828... Of a turn, which is a bit more than 5 / 7 (=071428...).
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pi turns per seed

A similar thing happens with pi (314159..) since the fraction of a turn left over after 3
whole turns is 014159 and is close to 1 / 7 = 0142857.. . It is a little less, so the "arms"
bend in the opposite direction to that of e's (which were a bit more than 5/7).
Thus, even the irrationals are a bad choice for the seedhead because they can be
approximated by a rational number. Hence, we need a number that cannot be
approximated by a rational number. Hence, we resort to the theory of continued
fractions.
We need an irrational number that never settles down to a rational approximation for very
long. The simplest such number is that which is expressed as P = 1+1/ (1+1/ (1+1/ (...)
I.e. P = 1 + 1 / P, .. (1)
However, this is one of the very definitions of Phi as has been discussed before.
On solving (1), we get its roots as Phi = (5 + 1) / 2 and phi = (5 1) / 2.
This reason can be extended onto the arrangement of leaves on a shoot. Successive leaves
must arrange themselves in such a way so as to intercept most of the sunlight without
casting shadows on each other. Hence, diversion angle 137.5, optimised packing Fibonacci phyllotaxis!
Thus, we realise that the primary reason that evolution has chosen Phi in vast and diverse
forms is to optimise packing. This model of optimised packing can be used in a lot of
situations to gain a better understanding into the design of nature, particularly, in
understanding why nature chose Phi to represent some of the most interesting features of
design.
Now that we have understood why Phi occurs in Phyllotaxis, let us get to contemporary
research. We began by observing the golden ratio in cell division. At present, the
challenge is to correlate asymmetric patterns of cell division with the generation of
Fibonacci patterns, and to design tests to distinguish between these models. Perhaps the
most useful approach may be to study mutants with altered developmental patterns.

23

Takahashi et al (2002) have shown that a mutation in the topoisomerase coding gene
which plays a major role in DNA replication leads to the disruption of the Phi patterns in
plants. Their paper reads:
.. Here, we show that disruption of an Arabidopsis topoisomerase (topo) I gene
named TOP1 affects phyllotaxis and plant architecture. The divergence angles and
internode lengths between two successive flowers were more random in the top1 mutant
than in the wild type.. . These morphological abnormalities indicate that TOP1 may
play a critical role in the maintenance of a regular pattern of organ initiation.
This shows that the phyllotactic occurrence of Phi may have very deep roots, deep inside
the genetic codes of organisms.

Conclusion
All these evidences and several more that are yet to be discovered make the golden ratio
an indispensable number. We began showing evidences for occurrence of the golden ratio
in the DNA and cell structure. Towards the end we were able to show how certain
changes in the DNA sequence actually disrupts the Phi pattern. Thus when information is
transferred form the molecular level to the macro level, there is one thing that is
conserved- Phi. The journey ahead will be interesting as we try and fill the gaps in the
translation process. Phi may in future give rise to a new branch of non reductionist
science where correlation between entities is far more important than understanding their
discrete functions. Already, we have been able to show the strong correlation the genome
sequence has with phi.
A correlation was also be made between Fibonacci Numbers and the ways of operation of
Nature. In Fibonacci numbers each number owes its identity to what has occurred before
it. Thus the series is self forming. Similarly in nature operates on this very same principal
of self organization. Hence Phi is a number which becomes conspicuous in both.
Over the billions of years since nature has chosen phi as its trademark, efforts are on to
device nanostructures wherein the particles are organized in this ratio so as to minimize
the stresses. Several more inventions knock the horizon and are waiting to be unleashed.
However a lot of reading between the lines of natures design is yet to be done. The
journey to explore more about the holy grail of natures design will certainly be very
exciting.

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References
1. Harel (2003): Beauty is in the genes of the beholder (200-204 DNA50)
2. Onody (1999): Exact solution of an evolutionary model without aging (Physical
Review E Vol. 60 Number 3)
3. Gibson: Association of the Fibonacci Cascade With the Distribution of Coronary
Artery Lesions Responsible for ST-Segment Elevation Myocardial Infarction (Am J
Cardiol 2003;92:595597)
4. Rakoc' evic: The genetic code as a Golden mean determined system (BioSystems 46
(1998) 283291)
5. Cai:Quantifying Beauty (Harvard Science Review, 28-30, Spring 2004)
6. Takahashi(2002): Disruption of a DNA Topoisomerase I Gene Affects Morphogenesis
in Arabidopsis (The Plant Cell, Vol. 14, 20852093, September 2002)
7. Li: Triangular and Fibonacci Number Patterns Driven by Stress on Core/Shell
Microstructures: (5 AUGUST 2005 VOL 309 SCIENCE)
8. Selvam : Quantumlike Chaos in the Frequency Distributions of
the Bases A, C, G, T in Drosophila DNA: (Apeiron, Vol. 9, No. 4, October 2002)
9. Dress: Fibonacci-Cayley Numbers and Repetition Patterns in Genomic DNA: (Annals
of Combinatorics 7 (2003) 259-279)
10. Koruga : DNA as classical and quantum information system: Implication to gene
expression in normal and cancer cells: (Arch Oncol 2005;13(3-4):115-20.)
11.McDonnel: Application of the Golden Ratio to 3D Facial Models
12. West : Bronchial Asymmetry and Fibonacci Scaling: ( Experentia 41, 1985)
13. Klar : Plant mathematics: Fibonacci's flowers (Nature 417, 595 (6 June 2002)
14. Surridge: Plant development: Leaves by number (Nature 426, 237 (20 November
2003))
15. Reinhardt: Regulation of phyllotaxis by polar auxin transport: (Nature 426, 255-260
(20 November 2003))

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Popular sites for reference:

http://www.mcs.surrey.ac.uk/Personal/R.Knott/Fibonacci/fib.html
http://www.beautyanalysis.com/index2_mba.htm
mathworld.wolfram.com/GoldenRatio.html
www.geom.uiuc.edu/~demo5337/s97b/art.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Golden_ratio
www.phimatrix.com/

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