Toward a general theory of evolution: Extending Darwinian theory to inanimate matter

Abstract

Though Darwinian theory dramatically revolutionized biological understanding, its strictly biological focus has resulted in a widening conceptual gulf between the biological and physical sciences. In this paper we strive to extend and reformulate Darwinian theory in physicochemical terms so it can accommodate both animate and inanimate systems, thereby helping to bridge this scientific divide. The extended formulation is based on the recently proposed concept of dynamic kinetic stability and data from the newly emerging area of systems chemistry. The analysis leads us to conclude that abiogenesis and evolution, rather than manifesting two discrete stages in the emergence of complex life, actually constitute one single physicochemical process. Based on that proposed unification, the extended theory offers some additional insights into life's unique characteristics, as well as added means for addressing the three central questions of biology: what is life, how did it emerge, and how would one make it?

Systems chemistry of α-amino acids and peptides

“…Though we are far from being capable of providing a complete scenario, the emergence of specific properties taking advantage of their ability to be reproduced may not be implausible as for instance in the case of chirality, for which there is no need that a specific chemical species is reproduced, which could lead to selection and amplification in a way similar to natural selection. The analysis of the possibilities of α-amino acid chemistry tend to confirm the view that chemical evolution and biological evolution can be considered as a single evolutionary process with no need of stating that a profound gap was separating them [10,15].…”

“…This observation is strengthened by the recent report that the chemistries of amino acids and nucleotides precursors could be very closely associated [8]. However, having monomers constitutes only a part of the story and a contribution of α-amino acids or even peptides to the origin and early developments of life needed additional processes likely to sustain improbable but dynamically stable states [9][10][11][12][13][14][15]. The new and improbable properties emerging this kind of processes are the object of study of Systems Chemistry [16,17].…”

“…As far as dynamically stable chemical systems are concerned, these two conditions mean (i) that the nonequilibrium state must be permanently or repeatedly maintained by energy inputs and (ii) that feedback processes introduce nonlinearity. Replication processes [9][10][11] or autocatalysis [23] are then required to observe the corresponding behaviour. Except PNAs [24,25], peptides usually lack the base-pairing ability of nucleic acids.…”

Astrobiology and the Possibility of Life on Earth and Elsewhere…

“…the first protocells may have had a degree of autonomy similar to that of present day free-living microorganisms. The idea that replicative systems exhibit a novel and specific form of stability, namely Dynamic Kinetic Stability, has been developed by Addy Pross (Pross 2011(Pross , 2012Pross and Pascal 2013). Stability is understood in this view as persistence in time.…”

Sedm důvodů pro nemožnost vytvoření univerzální definice života

“…13 Do značné míry lze tuto představu vystopovat u antických atomistů, zejména pak u Lucretia a Démokrita. 14 Viz Pross (2009Pross ( ), (2011. 15 Chyba a McDonald tvrdí, že "kompletní definice [života], taková, která by bezrozporně odlišovala ne-život od života, by byla možná jen v tom případě, že by přechod od prvního k druhému byl přerušovaný.…”