How and why kinetics, thermodynamics, and chemistry induce the logic of biological evolution
How and why kinetics, thermodynamics, and chemistry induce the logic of biological evolution Addy Pross 1,2 and Robert Pascal
Abstract Thermodynamic stability, as expressed by the Second Law, generally constitutes the driving force for chemical assembly processes. Yet, somehow, within the living world most self-organisation processes appear to challenge this fundamental rule. Even though the Second Law remains an inescapable constraint, under energy-fuelled, far-from-equilibrium conditions, populations of chemical systems capable of exponential growth can manifest another kind of stability, dynamic kinetic stability (DKS). It is this stability kind based on time/persistence, rather than on free energy, that offers a basis for understanding the evolutionary process. Further- more, a threshold distance from equilibrium, leading to irreversibility in the reproduction cycle, is needed to switch the directive for evolution from thermodynamic to DKS. The present report develops these lines of thought and argues against the validity of a thermodynamic approach in which the maximisation of the rate of energy dissipation/entropy production is considered to direct the evolutionary process. More generally, our analysis reaffirms the predominant role of kinetics in the self-organisation of life, which, in turn, allows an assessment of semi-quantitative constraints on systems and environments from which life could evolve.
Results and Discussion From thermodynamic self-assembly to kinetic self-assembly Organised supramolecular structures are commonly formed when favourable interactions lead to the assembly of different components [18]. The release of chemical binding energy, i.e., the realisation of potential energy by dissipation of heat into the environment, compensates for the decrease in entropy associat- ed with the loss of degrees of freedom of the individual chemi- cal components. The increase in thermodynamic stability there- fore constitutes the driving force for self-organisation, as re- quired by the Second Law (Figure 1A).
Life as a dissipative process emerging far from equilibrium
Stability and complexity
A free energy potential threshold as a requirement for the origin of life
Evolvability and the origins of life
With regard to living organisms, the situation is more complex. On the one hand, association processes directly driven by the Second Law are common in living organismsPascalhttps://www.academia.edu/90961618/How_and_why_kinetics_thermodynamics_and_chemistry_induce_the_logic_of_biological_evolution