Evolução coletiva e o código genético

Collective evolution and the genetic code

Kalin Vetsigian
Department of Physics, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 1110 West Green St., Urbana, IL 61801

Carl Woese
Department of Microbiology and Institute for Genomic Biology,
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 601 South Goodwin Avenue Urbana, IL 61801

Nigel Goldenfeld
Department of Physics and Institute for Genomic Biology,
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 1110 West Green St., Urbana, IL 61801

(Dated: February 8, 2008)

A dynamical theory for the evolution of the genetic code is presented, which accounts for its universality and optimality. The central concept is that a variety of collective, but non-Darwinian, mechanisms likely to be present in early communal life generically lead to refinement and selection of innovation-sharing protocols, such as the genetic code. Our proposal is illustrated using a simplified computer model, and placed within the context of a sequence of transitions that early life may have made, prior to the emergence of vertical descent.

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