Which came first: genes or metabolism?

The key hen-egg question in biology is which came first, genes or metabolism. Both seem to need the other one. Genes-first view has led to the notion of RNA era as prebiotic biology. Metabolism-first view assumes that lipid life preceded the life controlled by basic biomolecules. In TGD framework this hen-egg question disappears.

1. Dark variants of DNA, RNA, tRNA, and AAs are dark proton sequences representing dark nuclei with scaled down nuclear binding energy. They come in different length scales and their decay to dark nuclei with shorter scale liberates dark nuclear binding energy, which could have been used as metabolic energy during the prebiotic period and could even in recent biology. Therefore genes and metabolic genes would have emerged simultaneously.
   
   
2. In so called Pollack effect the irradiation of a water bounded by a hydrophilic material creates negatively charged exclusion zone (EZ). Positive charge must go somewhere and the TGD based proposal is that it goes to magnetic flux tubes and forms dark proton sequences provoding a representation of DNA,RNA,tRNA,AA and of vertebrate genetic code.
   

   This effect occurs for several light wavelengths but infrared light present in thermal radiation provides the most effective manner to generate the charge separation. One can say that charge separation generates a battery so that the energy of light is transformed to a usable chemical energy. EZs have presumably preceded cell membrane (cell interior has negative charge).
   

   According to Pollack protein unfolding and folding could involve Pollack effect and its reverse. Also muscle contraction liberating energy could involve the reverse of Pollack effect. This mechanism works also for humans and one can even say that photosynthesis which induces charge separation by splitting water to H⁺ and OH^- works also for animals but in somewhat more complex manner. This could explain the positive effects of sunlight on well-being. Some spiritually oriented people are even claimed to survive by using only sunlight as metabolic energy: light and water would be enough.
   
   

3. In this framework one can consider the possibility of lipid membranes living in symbiosis with dark variants DNA, RNA, tRNA, and AAs during prebiotic era. Membranes would have generated charge separation by Pollack effect in order to transform the energy of light to chemical energy usable as metabolic energy. The resulting dark nuclei at magnetic flux tubes would have given rise to a dark realization of genetic code realized later chemically perhaps in terms of some simpler molecules attached to the dark variants of DNA, RNA or AA. Replication at this period could have been simply splitting of the membrane to two pieces perhaps induced by the splitting of the magnetic body in the manner described.
   
   

See the article Getting philosophical: some comments about the problems of physics, neuroscience, and biology or the chapter Quantum Mind, Magnetic Body, and Biological Body.

For a summary of earlier postings see Latest progress in TGD.

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