Information Transmission via Molecular Communication in Astrobiological Environments

Abstract

The ubiquity of information transmission via molecular communication between cells is comprehensively documented on Earth; this phenomenon might even have played a vital role in the origin(s) and early evolution of life. Motivated by these considerations, a simple model for molecular communication entailing the diffusion of signaling molecules from transmitter to receiver is elucidated. The channel capacity $C$ (maximal rate of information transmission) and an optimistic heuristic estimate of the actual information transmission rate $\mathcal{I}$ are derived for this communication system; the two quantities, especially the latter, are demonstrated to be broadly consistent with laboratory experiments and more sophisticated theoretical models. The channel capacity exhibits a potentially weak dependence on environmental parameters, whereas the actual information transmission rate may scale with the intercellular distance $d$ as $\mathcal{I}\propto d^{-4}$ and could vary substantially across settings. These two variables are roughly calculated for diverse astrobiological environments, ranging from Earth's upper oceans ($C\sim 3.1\times 10^3$ bits/s; $\mathcal{I}\sim 4.7\times 10^{-2}$ bits/s) and deep sea hydrothermal vents ($C\sim 4.2\times 10^3$ bits/s; $\mathcal{I}\sim 1.2\times 10^{-1}$ bits/s) to the hydrocarbon lakes and seas of Titan ($C\sim 3.8\times 10^3$ bits/s; $\mathcal{I}\sim 2.6\times 10^{-1}$ bits/s).

arXiv commentPublished online in Astrobiology; 58 pages; 1 figure; 1 table

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