Entropy and diffusion characterize mutation accumulation and biological information loss

Abstract

Aging is a universal consequence of life, yet researchers have identified no universal theme. This manuscript considers aging from the perspective of entropy, wherein things fall apart. We first examine biological information change as a mutational distance, analogous to physical distance. In this model, informational change over time is fitted to an advection-diffusion equation, a normal distribution with a time component. The solution of the advection-diffusion equation provides a means of measuring the entropy of diverse biological systems. The binomial distribution is also sufficient to demonstrate that entropy increases as mutations or epimutations accumulate. As modeled, entropy scales with lifespans across the tree of life. This perspective provides potential mechanistic insights and testable hypotheses as to how evolution has attained enhanced longevity: entropy management. We find entropy is an inclusive rather than exclusive aging theory.