I. The Use of Natural Selection to explain Chemical Behavior Raises New Questions About Natural Selection’s Actual Meaning

Purpose: This is a review of a review paper by C. de Sousa, Life As Cosmic Imperative? Phil. Trans. R. Soc. A (2011) 369, 620–623 doi:10.1098/rsta.2010.0312, and more generally, a concept known as “chemical selection.”

What is critical and central in the review paper (but more importantly to the field of chemical-origin-of-life science) is the use of “natural selection” as an underlying methodology, and if we assume that the “selection” invoked in this paper is the same interpretation of natural selection used in Cristian de Sousa’s and others, then I believe it raises new questions about what selection theory actually is. In the contexts that de Sousa and many other references (Lehninger 1980) have used it, selection is a theoretical and as yet, unproven chemical concept. It is invoked as a physical concept which in de Sousa’s words is the following:

“Selection is different. Originally formulated by Darwin as the mechanism of

evolution of reproducing living organisms, natural selection also affects replicating

molecules such as RNA, as first shown by Spiegelman [7] and since repeated

in a variety of ways by many investigators. In both cases, the essence of the

process lies in the imperfections of reproduction. For all sorts of reasons, whenever

entities are replicated, variants of the original model are inevitably produced.

Selection acts on those variants to automatically bring out those that are most

stable and, especially, most capable of producing progeny, under the prevailing

conditions. AND…” Natural selection acts blindly on the products of chance. It has no foresight.”

 

And what is interesting is that “natural selection” in de Sousa’s meaning would somehow presume to rewrite the laws of chemical behavior. It is already known that chemical reactivity is governed by chance, chance collisions of species in solution etc. and distributions of energy. But what is important from de Sousa and many other references that build on de Sousa’s “natural chemical selection model” is that it is not at all clear, what the chemical definition of natural selection actually means.  De Sousa defines natural chemical selection as a process occurring “after chemistry” in stage II.

“The first stage depended exclusively on chemistry. The second stage likewise involved chemistry, but with the additional participation of selection, a necessary concomitant of inevitable replication accidents.”

Stage II? What kind of chemical physics is this meant to be? De Sousa has no evidence for any chemical species copying themselves in nature, that is, outside of molecules derived from already extant life. A key differentiation, since his hypothesis asserts that it Stage I, “it was all chemistry”. This does not occur outside of cells, and has only been shown artificially in laboratories (i.e. PCR, rtPCR), but when these tests are done correctly they produce a negative. Should we also expect that since natural selection is falsifiable chemically it cannot be reproduced in nature, that the model of this paper also based on the same “natural selection” should meet the same burden and has been falsified by contrary laboratory results, again those actually simulating natural conditions?

If “chemical selection” is indeed a real testable theory or mechanism, as it is cited many times in peer reviewed literature, such as these, then can it be falsified? In other words, what is it about ANY chemical reaction that one can envision, that would proceed differently, WITH or WIHOUT so called the mechanisms described as natural “chemical selection?” I say that if you cannot answer that question, it does not pass muster for science. We may apply this simple test to those cases where it is claimed that “self-replication” has been confirmed in vitro, asking how the confirmed case differs from the non-confirmed case and the chemical difference(s) expected in each.

De Sousa states: “Up to this event, only chemical reactions were involved”. ..and “After

it occurred, selection was added to chemistry.” We are then to understand that something, was “added to chemistry.” And we wish to know what that something might be. If so, if one claims that this additional property exists in some cases, but not in others, how would you show that it is falsifiable? Would we expect…X…behavior of chemistry? Whatever X might be, a new reaction which selects itself towards, products? Let us write A+C-à D+E and demonstrate one example, only one, in which the chemical species proceed toward products D and E by this alleged process called “natural chemical selection.” Is there one example in all of the literature that answers this question? Again, whereby there is as he claims, a stage I and stage II. And again, de Sousa is echoing in a review, the generalized belief that this is a real phenomena. As with any real phenomena there must be falsifiable conditions, theoretical or actual, proposed in order to verify its existence. This is only one of the aspects of my objections to this paper, the other is outlined below and is more theoretical.

Problems Of A Paper Advocating 'Dynamic Kinetic Stability' Theory In Light Of A New Virtual Closed System 'VCS' Theory

I discuss the problems of another theory called "Dynamic Kinetic Stability” or DKS, which is described in a paper by R. Pascal, (see below) as “..a stability kind specific to persistent replicating systems and derived from the dynamic persistence associated with exponentially driven self-replication.” I mention the paper in the context of my Virtual Closed System theory (VCS) and  "Indifferent Time" (links below) that refute not only 'maximal flow' but also so-called chemical selection, and natural selection coupled energy dissipation theory.
 

"Does Life Violate The Second Law Of Thermodynamics? Implications Of Virtual Closed Systems" MKK
http://causaldistinctions.blogspot.com/2015/05/does-life-violate-second-law-of_14.html

"I Propose A Challenge To Maximal Flow Theories By A New Theory: Indifferent Time" MKK
http://causaldistinctions.blogspot.com/2015/04/i-propose-challenge-to-maximal-flow.html

This appears to be one of the first papers I’ve encountered that attempts to somewhat boldly account for the chemistry i.e. with a kinetic stability theory, in addition to the thermodynamic problem relating to life’s origins. It is one of the few papers that appears to be rather honest about the fact that the problem at hand is immense, and that self organizing processes resembling pre-transitional states of life would likely not resemble life in terms of thermodynamics and the normal processes by which free energy is lost. It does not rely on far from equilibrium “smoke” to fill in the gaps. A general comment regarding the impetus for many of these papers: I have to wonder if it is not so much a driver of life that is sought but a new mechanism for creating a grander illusion that the problem is near fixing. Fool the reader into believing that your equations are formidable enough to be “possible” and plug enough references, and one can make at least a case, so in this sense it is true evolution if not of the theories themselves. At least there were several cases where this paper described the holes.

But returning to the problem at hand. The paper itself is not without major issues. Most of the diagrams in my view; for example the catalytic chains contrasting traditional enzymatic pathways or cycles vs theoretical kinetic cycles that might drive molecules forward, are essentially depicting a theoretical chemistry that must be occurring in nature. It does not realistically account for what that might entail, as there are not simply chemical competition occurring, as physical draining of energy, dissipation and other random processes found in any natural setting. These are omitted. The conclusion from these diagrams is that nature must be doing chemistry, useful chemistry, and making useful molecules with higher free energy, (in thermodynamic terms) just as one would expect from a chemical factory. Can nature do this? And where is the proof of concept at the most basic molecular level?

The other major weakness of the paper is that it fails to answer many of the other theories that are in existence, namely that self-organization is possible in lightening bolts, eddies, concentration gradients and so on. The emphasis on Lotka and other references, which have purported to show stability of critical molecular species like triplet RNA, coupled with so-called energetic expressions for fitness, is to me a non-starter. It at least admits that if you had in theory, A, B, and C groups of evolving molecules like RNA’s and others, how would one in theory show that any of these would not circumvent the process by reacting counterproductively to lower free energy rapidly and bring the system to thermodynamic equilibrium? That would be the problem of “persistence.” The amount of time required for some of the more organized species allegedly, to remain unreacted for a time to allow a different process to commence.

“On the other hand, indications from previous reports [16–22] and supported by our present analyses (Scheme 1) have shown that a form of stability that is different from thermodynamic stability is needed to understand how far-from-equilibrium chemical states may have gained a form of persistence, thereby opening the possibility of self-organization toward life.”

The paper concludes that essentially: “Irreversibility and the kinetic power of reproduction seem to be, at least in principle, sufficient to allow the emergence of life and there is no need to seek out some hitherto unknown physical law to explain the origin of the specific behaviour associated with living organisms.”

It concludes that the catalytic and kinetic aspects should not be overlooked, but are important in addition to thermodynamic (self-organization) and even 'chemical selective processes'. It further concludes that vaguely all of these must be considered simultaneously. It then gives a reasonably good summary of two basic problems facing the study, understanding abiotic formation of feed stocks or organic building blocks present in abiotic processes, but then the more difficult issue of how these would be driven to self assemble. A final distinction is made between Boltzmann’s chemical based theories the chemical world that is known, and its own theory of DKS dynamic chemical stability (“..a stability kind specific to persistent replicating systems and derived from the dynamic persistence associated with exponentially driven self-replication”), as though these are separate entities and yet there is no physical evidence in the paper or any other sources, for DKS occurring. In the sense that it defines it (DKS) as unique from Boltzmann’s physical chemical processes, it is probably more accurate to correct the intro statement “DKS- a process that is ‘usually” not observed in regular chemistry..” to “DKS is a process“never” observed in regular chemistry." I believe it gives support to the notion that current thermodynamics is critically lacking, though it fails to address the issues with thermodynamics itself, hence its advocation of DKS though it's not clear at all how it would be co-joined with thermodynamics, and instead, this paper shows the need for a basic new approach to the problem.



[*The intro to this article was updated on 10/13/201]

1. Pascal R (2013) "Towards an evolutionary theory of the origin of life based on kinetics and thermodynamics". DOI: 10.1098/rsob.130156 http://rsob.royalsocietypublishing.org/content/3/11/130156