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Cited by 33Origins and Evolution of LifePhilosophy and History of ScienceEvolution and Genetic Dynamics

The Multiple Paths to Multiple Life

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Kempes, Christopher P., Krakauer, David C.·2021·Journal of Molecular Evolution
DOI 10.1007/s00239-021-10016-2PMC PMC8318961
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Abstract

We argue for multiple forms of life realized through multiple different historical pathways. From this perspective, there have been multiple origins of life on Earth—life is not a universal homology. By broadening the class of originations, we significantly expand the data set for searching for life. Through a computational analogy, the origin of life describes both the origin of hardware (physical substrate) and software (evolved function). Like all information-processing systems, adaptive systems possess a nested hierarchy of levels, a level of function optimization (e.g., fitness maximization), a level of constraints (e.g., energy requirements), and a level of materials (e.g., DNA or RNA genome and cells). The functions essential to life are realized by different substrates with different efficiencies. The functional level allows us to identify multiple origins of life by searching for key principles of optimization in different material form, including the prebiotic origin of proto-cells, the emergence of culture, economic, and legal institutions, and the reproduction of software agents.

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  • All evolutionary trajectories occur under generic selective constraints such as the laws of mathematics, physics and chemistry, and these should lead to some universal features.

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    From Fundamental constraints to the logic of living systems (2024) · cites this paper as [44]

  • Energy is a key consideration in the evolutionary optimization of organisms.

    “Other arguments related to metabolic scaling indicate that energy is a key consideration in the evolutionary optimization of organisms [43,44,104,105].”

    From Fundamental constraints to the logic of living systems (2024) · cites this paper as [44]

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Cited by

Sorted by citations

Authors
Kempes, C. P., & Krakauer, D. C.
Affiliations
Santa Fe Institute (US)
Corresponding author
Kempes, Christopher P.
ORCID
Venue
Journal of Molecular Evolution
Publisher
Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Published
2021-07-12
Volume
89
Issue
7
Pages
415-426
ISSN
  • 0022-2844 (ISSN-L)
  • 1432-1432
DOI
10.1007/s00239-021-10016-2
PMC
PMC8318961
OpenAlex
W3180641939
Cited by
33
References
5
Citations by year
2026: 5 · 2025: 7 · 2024: 4 · 2023: 7 · 2022: 7 · 2021: 3
FWCI
0.47
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Licence
Locations
  • Journal of Molecular Evolution (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
Funders
Division of Environmental Biology (1745355)
Topics
  • Physical Sciences › Physics and Astronomy › Astronomy and Astrophysics › Origins and Evolution of Life
  • Social Sciences › Arts and Humanities › History and Philosophy of Science › Philosophy and History of Science
  • Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Genetics › Evolution and Genetic Dynamics
Keywords
origin of life, homology, adaptive systems, nested hierarchy, function optimization, emergence of culture, software agents, search for life, information processing systems
MeSH terms
Origin of Life, DNA, RNA, Genome, Earth, Planet

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