Evolution of error correction through a need for speed

Kinetic proofreading is a class of error-correcting mechanisms in biology that expend energy to avoid mistakes during replication, transcription, and translation. Proofreading is typically assumed to evolve when selection for fidelity outweighs costs in energy and the speed of replication. We show that when stalling after misincorporations is accounted for, proofreading can instead speed up replication. Consistent with data on polymerase mutagenesis, our results suggest that proofreading can evolve under selection for speed alone. We generalize to multicomponent self-assembly and show that analogous error-correcting processes, such as dynamic instability, can likewise emerge purely from selection for rapid assembly. Thus, nonequilibrium error correction can evolve from selection for speed, even without direct fidelity advantages. We discuss implications for mutation-rate evolution, molecular assembly processes, and models of early life.