Selectively advantageous instability in biotic and pre-biotic systems and implications for evolution and aging

Area of Science:

• * Evolutionary Biology
• * Systems Biology
• * Biophysics

Background:

• * Biological systems typically conserve resources, exemplified by efficient geometric patterns and energy-conserving scaling laws.
• * However, biological components often exhibit instability, which can be selectively advantageous.
• * Selectively advantageous instability (SAI) is a key feature in cellular processes, including the turnover of signaling molecules and damaged macromolecules.

Purpose of the Study:

• * To explore the role of selectively advantageous instability (SAI) in biological systems, contrasting with resource conservation principles.
• * To investigate how SAI contributes to the complexity, energy dynamics, and genetic diversity of replicating systems.
• * To examine the implications of SAI in both natural and synthetic replicators.

Main Methods:

• * Review of existing literature on biological resource conservation and instability.
• * Analysis of cellular mechanisms demonstrating SAI, such as short-lived factors and macromolecule turnover.
• * Examination of computer modeling studies on replicator dynamics and SAI.

Main Results:

• * SAI can provide benefits beyond energy generation, including increased system complexity and mobilization of building blocks.
• * SAI is essential for life, as evidenced by the presence of proteases and nucleases in minimal gene sets.
• * SAI promotes genetic diversity through mechanisms like toxin/antitoxin systems, mitochondrial inheritance, and the creation of distinct selective states.
• * SAI in synthetic replicators facilitates cycling and the emergence of complexity.

Conclusions:

• * Selectively advantageous instability is a fundamental principle in biology that drives genetic diversity and reproductive fitness.
• * SAI contributes to the evolution of complexity in both natural and synthetic replicating systems.
• * SAI may also play a role in aging, potentially through resource depletion and the accumulation of deleterious alleles.