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Adapting Cognition Models to Biomolecular Condensate Dynamics

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Essays on the Extended Evolutionary Synthesis

Part of the book series: SpringerBriefs in Evolutionary Biology ((BRIEFSEVOLUTION))

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Abstract

We argue that biomolecular condensates within cells represent ‘fossil survivals’ of early stages in evolutionary process that were precursors to membrane-separated systems. That is, within some highly condensed ‘prebiotic soup’, such condensates—coacervate systems—could assemble and reassemble as-needed under prevailing selection pressures. Thus, just as mitochondria and other membrane-bound organelles represent ‘fossils’ within eukaryotic cells, biomolecular condensates represent a (much) earlier generation of prebiotic systems. Formal development, generalized from an information-theoretic treatment of cognition and its dynamics, translates the language of ‘chemical reaction rate’ into that of ‘cognition rate’ in these pre-organelle systems. Explicit models suggest searching for groupoid symmetry-breaking and other phase transitions in the assembly, reassembly, and dynamic function of currently-observed biomolecular condensates.

The prebiotic organization of chemicals into compartmentalized ensembles is an essential step to understand the transition from inert molecules to living matter. Compartmentalization is indeed a central property of living systems... ...[D]ifferent compartments could have co-emerged, competed for the same resources, or collaborated to ‘survive’ until one population would have acquired a selective advantage making it thrive at the expense of the other populations. — Martin and Douliez (2021)

Living systems are cognitive systems, and living as a process is a process of cognition. This statement is valid for all organisms, with and without a nervous system.

— (Maturana and Varela 1980 , p. 13)

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  1. Division of Epidemiology, The New York State Psychiatric Institute, New York, NY, USA

    Rodrick Wallace

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Wallace, R. (2023). Adapting Cognition Models to Biomolecular Condensate Dynamics. In: Essays on the Extended Evolutionary Synthesis. SpringerBriefs in Evolutionary Biology. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-29879-0_7

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