Cause of Chirality Consensus

TL;DR

This paper proposes that the universal chirality consensus in biological molecules results from the second law of thermodynamics, where entropy increase drives the system toward homochirality as a high-entropy state.

Contribution

It introduces a thermodynamic explanation for the origin of biological homochirality, linking it to entropy maximization in open systems.

Findings

Chirality consensus is a kinetic consequence of entropy increase.

Energy transduction efficiency influences molecular homochirality.

The principle explains the ubiquity of homochirality in life.

Abstract

Biological macromolecules, proteins and nucleic acids are composed exclusively of chirally pure monomers. The chirality consensus appears vital for life and it has even been considered as a prerequisite of life. However the primary cause for the ubiquitous handedness has remained obscure. We propose that the chirality consensus is a kinetic consequence that follows from the principle of increasing entropy, i.e. the 2nd law of thermodynamics. Entropy increases when an open system evolves by decreasing gradients in free energy with more and more efficient mechanisms of energy transduction. The rate of entropy increase is the universal fitness criterion of natural selection that favors diverse functional molecules and drives the system to the chirality consensus to attain and maintain high-entropy non-equilibrium states.