Biological Evolution and Cooperation: From Individual Organisms to Superorganisms

The transition from solitary individuals to colonies. Cooperation is the process through which organisms of the same species work together for mutual advantage. From a natural perspective, sharing the same ecological niche, organisms of the same species compete for resources; thus, in the absence of other forces, natural selection favors non-cooperative and selfish behaviors. Cooperation implies costs, the first of which consists in offering a benefit to a potential competitor. Natural selection eliminates predispositions to provide help that systematically reduces the inclusive fitness of the individual. Cooperative behaviors can emerge only when the benefits derived for both parties exceed the conflict of interests. Well-conducted cooperation gives rise to a superorganism, namely a new system in organic evolution of a superior scale, as specified in the introductory theoretical chapters.

The Biosphere as Energy Dissipator

A first evident effect of biological evolution is associated with energy dissipation and the increase of entropy on planet Earth. If we consider the cosmic flux and reflux described in previous chapters, entropy is an imperative impulse of diffusion and dispersion of energy in the Universe. In this process of universal inspiration, all Creation operates work to vitalize the Cosmos by employing the free energy provided by the superior hierarchical structure and, through its own work, makes it available to the inferior hierarchical structure. The free energy of the Galaxy makes stellar life possible, stars through their evolution provide sufficient free energy to Earth and the life forms present in it to exist, Earth works for the Moon, etc. A simple calculation shows how biological life on Earth allows amplifying up to 20 times the production of terrestrial entropy. Although individual biological organisms act by decreasing their internal entropy, their external action corresponds to a notable increase of this.

Life unfolds through the production of work of transformation of surrounding reality through entropic and therefore irreversible processes. The most important irreversible process that generates entropy in the biosphere is the absorption and transformation of sunlight into heat. One of the most interesting hypotheses for us regarding the origin of biological life is that life began as a catalyst for the absorption and dissipation of sunlight itself. The resulting heat can thus be efficiently collected by other irreversible processes typical of Earth, such as the water cycle, hurricanes, and oceanic and wind currents.

Nucleic acids RNA and DNA are among the most efficient absorbers of photons from the Sun's spectrum in the ultraviolet region $200-300nm$; precisely that important part of the spectrum that could have filtered through Earth's first dense atmosphere. These molecules, in the presence of water, are extraordinarily rapid in dissipating high-energy photons for heating. It is therefore inevitable to consider life as a catalyst capable of absorbing sunlight on the surface of shallow seas, dissipating it as heat and promoting other irreversible processes that all contribute to the entropy production of the biosphere, namely the assimilation by Earth of the free energy generated by the Sun.

The Common Origin of Biological Life

One of the pillars of Darwinian evolution consists in the common origin of existing biological life forms. In this sense, there are many clues that suggest a common origin of all biological life forms. Among these, the most interesting, and in many aspects still unexplained, are the homochirality of life and the establishment of the genetic code.

All proteins necessary for life are manufactured from twenty amino acids that are defined as essential. The structure of such amino acids (Fig. 22) allows the existence of specular constructions called enantiomeric. These are identical in gross formula and structure, distinguished from each other only by the relative spatial arrangement of the four groups bound to a central carbon. This arrangement causes their interaction with polarized light to produce two opposite effects: one

Amino Acids Structure

Figure 22 shows the typical structure of amino acids comprising the 20 essential amino acids. All amino acids possess the same structure represented below according to two different notations (a) and (b) and formed by an amino group $-NH_2$ and a carboxyl group $-COOH$ linked by a central Carbon atom to which a variable R group is attached, varying from amino acid to amino acid.