New ‘Assembly Theory’ Closes Gap Between Reductionist Physics, Darwinian Evolution, Physicist Says

Physics, chemistry, and biology are recognized as distinct branches of science. However, scientists have discovered a new theory that may close the gap between them, including evolution.

Assembly Theory

Although physics provides an excellent framework for understanding how the universe functions, some areas are not fully covered, including evolution.

Though most things should follow physical theory, including biology, this theory has failed to account for evolution, the origin of features, and culture.

An international team of researchers led by theoretical physicist Sara Walker of Arizona State University and chemist Lee Cronin of the University of Glasgow has discovered a means to close that gap in a new study because it should be able to do so.

"Assembly theory provides a completely new lens for looking at physics, chemistry and biology as different perspectives of the same underlying reality," Walker says. "With this theory, we can start to close the gap between reductionist physics and Darwinian evolution - it's a major step toward a fundamental theory unifying inert and living matter."

Assembly theory is centered on the minimal steps and memory needed to construct the thing. It also considers the object's abundance in the world or its copy number.

The copy number is crucial because as an object's complexity rises, the likelihood of it occurring again by accident decreases. Unless some outside push or force helps it overcome the odds throughout time. In evolution, selection operates precisely in this manner on random mutation.

The researchers could mathematically quantify the level of selection and evolution necessary to construct a collection of evolved things, from molecules to cellular structures, using the established foundations for assembly theory.

However, the outcomes are not limited to already-existing items. Additionally, they can be utilized to forecast the appearance of fresh ones. This implies that they can apply some level of predictability to the chance of life arising in a particular system, such as Titan, a moon of Saturn containing many of the known life's components.

What's Next For Assembly Theory?

The team will continue to develop its research to comprehend how assembly theory may describe life. However, the idea can be tested scientifically, i.e., by using it in a lab to simulate the birth of life.

This implies that it might offer solutions to the puzzle of how life originally appeared on Earth and questions about life elsewhere in the cosmos.

According to Cronin, the assembly theory offers a different perspective on the matter that makes up our world, which is defined not only by immutable particles but also by the memory required to create objects by selection through time.

He added that with more effort, this method could revolutionize a variety of disciplines, including computer science and cosmology. It represents a fresh frontier at the nexus of information theory, biology, chemistry, and physics.

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