TITLE:
Principle of Least Action and Evolution
AUTHORS:
Javier De Rivero Paredes
KEYWORDS:
Principle of Least Action, Evolution, Cyclic Dipeptides, Mutations, Random
JOURNAL NAME:
Open Journal of Biophysics,
Vol.15 No.3,
July
30,
2025
ABSTRACT: As Theodosius Lobzhansky has said, “Nothing in biology makes sense except in the light of evolution.” [1] Since the Renaissance, it has been believed that the same laws that govern physics and chemistry in unanimated nature also govern live biology. Instead of looking for a “missing law” in physics to explain evolution, we have the least action principle (or stationary principle). This universal principle, studied since the 1st century and tested in Newtonian classical mechanics, the theory of relativity, and quantum mechanics, establishes that matter does not follow a random path but a minimizing, stationary, or even optimizing path. If processes in physics and chemistry are not random, how are mutations and the formation of proteins in biochemical processes random? If this principle applies to physics and then to biology, we can conclude that chemical processes, mutations, or peptide formation in evolution are not random. I will examine biochemical changes in amino acids that lead to changes that follow the Principle of Least Action (PLA). For this purpose, we have to look into Gibbs free energy. The least action principle has been tested and proven in relativity and quantum mechanics; it can be demonstrated in thermodynamics by transforming the energy equation into an equation of motion. Natural selection, Darwinian, or neo-Darwinian theories try to explain the animated world as a living entity where mutations are random. In recent years, a number of publications have tried to prove that mutations are not random in evolution. Several articles indicate that the formation of dipeptides has a negative free Gibbs energy, suggesting that the reaction is spontaneous and favorable. However, some of these articles do not explain why mutations are not random or spontaneous in the formation of early dipeptides. I disagree with some other papers claiming Natural Selection is entirely dependant on the Principle of Least Action. This paper will offer an explanation, a probable cause of these non-random mutations, not only in animated beings but most important in the early evolution of biochemistry. I will examine a list of papers and explain how the Principle of Least Action is related to evolution and the formation of the first peptides. I will also perform a small computer simulation.