Autophagy
The cellular process of degrading and recycling damaged or unnecessary components. Literally 'self-eating,' autophagy clears damaged proteins and organelles, maintaining cellular health.
Used in the Books
This term appears in 3 chapters:
"You get adaptation that exceeds the original stress. Fasting is hormetic. Going 16 hours without food triggers cellular autophagy - your cells digest their own damaged components and recycle them. Mild metabolic stress leads to improved metabolic efficiency. Vaccines are hormet..."
"Same temperature. Same oxygen. The only variable: calories consumed. The mechanism: caloric restriction triggers cellular cleanup (autophagy - cells digest their own damaged components), reduces metabolic waste (reactive oxygen species damage DNA/proteins less when metabolism runs slower),..."
"... trap (holding onto declining assets too long) by divesting proactively. Comparison to biological survival: Constellation's strategy resembles autophagy (self-consumption) in organisms: cells break down and recycle damaged or non-essential components during stress, redirecting resources to essential..."
Biological Context
Autophagy is activated by nutrient scarcity and stress. During fasting, cells break down non-essential components to provide energy and building materials. Autophagy clears protein aggregates linked to aging and neurodegenerative diseases. Mice with defective autophagy don't benefit from caloric restriction.
Business Application
Organizational autophagy is ruthless elimination of waste—zero-based budgeting, cutting technical debt, eliminating bureaucratic processes that exist only because 'we've always done it.' Companies without autophagy don't die from one decision; they die from accumulation of organizational junk.