A dynamical systems evaluation of the hypothesis that genetic codes define domains of life

The recent hypothesis that domains of life are identified by their genetic codes proposes a direct correspondence between genetic-code stabilization, progenote-to-cell transitions, and the emergence of biological domains. Although conceptually appealing, this framework assumes that genetic-code divergence is the primary determinant of deep evolutionary differentiation. Here, the author presents a theoretical dynamical systems framework to reassess this hypothesis using ordinary differential equation (ODE) models describing competition among progenote lineages carrying distinct genetic-code states, lineage stabilization, horizontal homogenization, and domain persistence. The model is intended to investigate the qualitative consequences of alternative evolutionary scenarios rather than to reconstruct the historical evolution of the genetic code. The author's analyses suggest that the number and stability of emerging lineages depend on the interaction of multiple evolutionary processes rather than exclusively on genetic-code diversification. The author further extends the framework by incorporating Chirumbolo and Vella's Prigoginian Informational Dissipation (PID) hypothesis, introduced as a theoretical state variable representing informational stabilization in a nonequilibrium evolutionary system. Within this extended framework, domain formation emerges from the coupled dynamics of genetic, ecological, and thermodynamic processes. These results support the view that genetic-code diversification alone may not fully account for the emergence and persistence of evolutionary domains and that domain formation is more appropriately regarded as an emergent property of interacting evolutionary mechanisms.