# Chiral symmetry breaking and information accumulation in pre-biological protocell evolution

## TL;DR

The paper explores how protocells evolve by breaking chiral symmetry and accumulating information over time, leading to distinct evolutionary stages.

## Contribution

The study introduces a new linear evolutionary model for protocells that tracks enantiomeric excess and information accumulation without mutual inhibition.

## Key findings

- Protocell evolution occurs in four distinct stages, starting with exponential growth and ending with a relaxation to a stationary point.
- Symmetry breaking occurs rapidly near a +1 enantiomeric excess when there is a small positive global asymmetry.
- Information accumulation can drive drift during the diffusion-like stage of evolution.

## Abstract

We study a linear evolutionary model based on the two-dimensional distribution of protocells by total enantiomeric excess and the amount of stored information, which they can pass from generation to generation, and without any mutual inhibition. We show that the evolution of such systems occurs in four distinct stages. The first stage is an exponential growth of the concentration of protocells near the point \documentclass[12pt]{minimal}
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\begin{document}$$\:\left(0,\:0\right)$$\end{document} and it should take negligible time on a geological scale. The second stage is a diffusion-like process in both dimensions. This process can also be accompanied by a drift in the direction of increased information passed from generation to generation, provided that the appropriate linear coefficient in the information storage subspace is large enough. The third stage is a rapid symmetry breaking and formation of the species near \documentclass[12pt]{minimal}
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\begin{document}$$\:+1$$\end{document} value of enantiomeric excess (assuming a small positive global enantiomeric asymmetry factor). The fourth stage is a relaxation toward a global stationary point, which is a narrow peak located near \documentclass[12pt]{minimal}
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\begin{document}$$\:+1$$\end{document} value of enantiomeric excess and some optimal value of the amount of stored information.

The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1038/s41598-025-97319-2.