Pre-replicative physical memory and asymmetric destruction in origin-of-life dynamics

Pre-replicative physical memory and asymmetric destruction in origin-of-life dynamics | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Research Article Pre-replicative physical memory and asymmetric destruction in origin-of-life dynamics Enrico Fila This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-8551675/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Posted Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract This work proposes a minimal physical framework for the emergence of historical continuity in prebiotic systems, without postulating the early appearance of genetic information or faithful replication. The PRFE (Peptide–Ribose–Phosphate–Energy) model describes a sequence of out-of-equilibrium processes in which molecular structures are selected exclusively by persistence across environmental cycles. In this framework, memory arises as a distributed physical property of structural configurations that survive longer and participate in a greater number of reorganization events. Weak but cumulative physical biases, combined with asymmetric destruction and recurrent fragmentation, progressively concentrate the system in regions of configuration space characterized by higher structural order and longer lifetimes. The model provides a continuous causal trajectory linking peptide-supported assemblies to the appearance of pre-replicative nucleic dynamics, without introducing informational assumptions or discontinuities. Replication is treated not as the origin of history, but as an emergent regime that becomes statistically favored once structural memory exceeds a critical threshold. The PRFE framework reframes RNA-first scenarios as a limiting case within a broader physical regime and highlights the role of cyclic environments, persistence selection and cumulative bias in accelerating early molecular evolution within realistic geological timescales. Full Text Additional Declarations No competing interests reported. Cite Share Download PDF Status: Posted Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. As a division of Research Square Company, we’re committed to making research communication faster, fairer, and more useful. We do this by developing innovative software and high quality services for the global research community. Our growing team is made up of researchers and industry professionals working together to solve the most critical problems facing scientific publishing. Also discoverable on Platform About Our Team In Review Editorial Policies Advisory Board Help Center Resources Author Services Accessibility API Access RSS feed Manage Cookie Preferences © Research Square 2026 | ISSN 2693-5015 (online) Privacy Policy Terms of Service Do Not Sell My Personal Information {"props":{"pageProps":{"initialData":{"identity":"rs-8551675","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Research Article","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":589594896,"identity":"28b945dc-2f05-4d7a-b4b2-55369438ca43","order_by":0,"name":"Enrico Fila","email":"data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAZAAAAAyAQMAAABI0h/eAAAABlBMVEX///8AAABVwtN+AAAACXBIWXMAAA7EAAAOxAGVKw4bAAAArklEQVRIiWNgGAWjYBAC9mbmBgaGCgseAzDXgAgtPIcZgVrOSMC0EKGH5wBQC2ObBMx8YrSwMzZ++DhPQsacvffhA4aCP0RoYWZslpy5TYLHsue4sQFRDrNnZmyQ5gVqMbiRxiZBnF+Atvz+Oweo5f4z4rW0STM2gGxhI0GLZc8xkF/SmA0SDIyJ0MJ/+PCNHzU29ubsxxgffPgjR1gLKkggVcMoGAWjYBSMAuwAAOYoLGKWezFBAAAAAElFTkSuQmCC","orcid":"","institution":"","correspondingAuthor":true,"prefix":"","firstName":"Enrico","middleName":"","lastName":"Fila","suffix":""}],"badges":[],"createdAt":"2026-01-08 13:57:34","currentVersionCode":1,"declarations":"","doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-8551675/v1","doiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-8551675/v1","draftVersion":[],"editorialEvents":[],"editorialNote":"","failedWorkflow":false,"files":[{"id":105833943,"identity":"245e0b2d-b6fa-42f9-9198-0fd9b9f7232d","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2026-03-31 15:13:24","extension":"pdf","order_by":1,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"manuscript-pdf","size":630558,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"","description":"","filename":"PRFEModel.pdf","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-8551675/v1_covered_c749a911-0a9f-4c2d-84fb-ba6bbc9b4d82.pdf"}],"financialInterests":"No competing interests reported.","formattedTitle":"Pre-replicative physical memory and asymmetric destruction in origin-of-life dynamics","fulltext":[],"fulltextSource":"","fullText":"","funders":[],"hasAdminPriorityOnWorkflow":false,"hasManuscriptDocX":false,"hasOptedInToPreprint":true,"hasPassedJournalQc":"","hasAnyPriority":false,"hideJournal":true,"highlight":"","institution":"","isAcceptedByJournal":false,"isAuthorSuppliedPdf":true,"isDeskRejected":"","isHiddenFromSearch":false,"isInQc":false,"isInWorkflow":false,"isPdf":true,"isPdfUpToDate":true,"isWithdrawnOrRetracted":false,"journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"researchsquare","isNatureJournal":false,"hasQc":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"externalIdentity":"","sideBox":"","snPcode":"","submissionUrl":"/submission","title":"Research Square","twitterHandle":"researchsquare","acdcEnabled":true,"dfaEnabled":false,"editorialSystem":"","reportingPortfolio":"","inReviewEnabled":false,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":true},"keywords":"","lastPublishedDoi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-8551675/v1","lastPublishedDoiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-8551675/v1","license":{"name":"CC BY 4.0","url":"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/"},"manuscriptAbstract":"\u003cp\u003eThis work proposes a minimal physical framework for the emergence of historical continuity in prebiotic systems, without postulating the early appearance of genetic information or faithful replication. The PRFE (Peptide\u0026ndash;Ribose\u0026ndash;Phosphate\u0026ndash;Energy) model describes a sequence of out-of-equilibrium processes in which molecular structures are selected exclusively by persistence across environmental cycles. In this framework, memory arises as a distributed physical property of structural configurations that survive longer and participate in a greater number of reorganization events. Weak but cumulative physical biases, combined with asymmetric destruction and recurrent fragmentation, progressively concentrate the system in regions of configuration space characterized by higher structural order and longer lifetimes. The model provides a continuous causal trajectory linking peptide-supported assemblies to the appearance of pre-replicative nucleic dynamics, without introducing informational assumptions or discontinuities. 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