Cis-action explained

Cis-action or cis-acting is a vague term that, in general, means "an action on the same" in contrast to trans-action "an action on a different". In other words, the initiator of the action is affected by it. Cis-actions occur wherever circular dependencies are present. Most notably in:

• biology, where it refers to life itself as in the selfish gene,^[1] cis-acting genetic elements^[2] and self-maintenance as a trait of self-replicating entities;
• chemistry, where it is known as autocatalytic set.^[3]
• Software engineering, as in computer viruses.

Notes and References

1. Book: Dawkins R . The selfish gene . 1989 . Oxford University Press . 0-19-217773-7 . New . Oxford . 20012195.
2. Bateman JR, Johnson JE, Locke MN . Comparing enhancer action in cis and in trans . Genetics . 191 . 4 . 1143–1155 . August 2012 . 22649083 . 3415998 . 10.1534/genetics.112.140954 .
3. Piast RW . Shannon's information, Bernal's biopoiesis and Bernoulli distribution as pillars for building a definition of life . Journal of Theoretical Biology . 470 . 101–107 . June 2019 . 30876803 . 10.1016/j.jtbi.2019.03.009 . 80625250 .