From Electrochemical Gradients to Informational Sequences: A Theoretical Framework for the Origin of Life

Abstract

This document presents a unified theoretical framework tracing a step-by-step pathway from pre-biotic electrochemical chemistry to the emergence of informational sequences capable of hereditary transmission. Rather than treating RNA as a starting point, it identifies a hierarchy of physical transitions — from chemical gradients, through local and structural memory, transferable memory, functional sequences, and proto-code, to a near-universal chemical language — each grounded in thermodynamic and electrochemical constraints rather than biochemical specification. The central thesis is that life emerges not with a particular molecule, but at the point where chemistry begins separating the storage of information from the execution of function. The framework is intended to complement existing experimental research programs and to identify productive targets for future investigation.