Near-ideal selection for the Standard Genetic Code

TL;DR

This paper proposes a calculated kinetic pathway for the evolution of the Standard Genetic Code, supported by experimental and theoretical evidence, suggesting it was optimized for early life survival and persistence.

Contribution

It introduces a detailed, quantitative model for the evolution of the genetic code, integrating experimental amino acid-RNA interactions with evolutionary dynamics.

Findings

A kinetic pathway to the SGC is supported by experimental data.

The SGC likely served LUCA, an early anaerobic thermophile.

Selection during diaspora contributed to the code's persistence.

Abstract

Evolutionary theorizing resembles building an aircraft while also piloting it; new results change the scaffold for older ideas, requiring revised strategy to remain airborne. A calculated kinetic pathway exists that, under explicit quantitative assumptions, delivers the SGC (Standard Genetic Code). The pathway and evidence for it is summarized below, striving for a clearer, more complete account than was possible during its construction. Beginning with experimental amino acid-RNA interactions, code assignments are fused, codes divide and an early coding crescendo is tested for homogeneous assignments, which are then selected for independent survival in a near-empty biotic world. During escape from the site of origin and diaspora, a near-complete SGC becomes dominant by supporting proficient division. Crescendo, escape and diaspora together comprise a near-ideal least selection for a Standard Genetic Code that specifically served LUCA, likely a free-living anaerobic thermophilic microbe. Selection during diaspora conceivably made persistence across gigayears feasible.