An Information-Theoretic Interpretation of the Zinc Spark as an Initial Condition for Gene Expression

This project presents an information-theoretic reinterpretation of the zinc spark observed at mammalian fertilization. Rather than proposing new experimental findings, the study introduces a conceptual framework that treats the zinc spark as an initial condition–setting event for early gene expression. In this framework, the initial gene state is defined as an informational bundle composed of genomic, epigenetic, and molecular components. The zinc spark is interpreted as an informational coupling trigger that transforms this bundle into an initialized informational condition, from which early gene expression dynamics evolve. Residual informational degrees of freedom are explicitly incorporated to account for structured individual variability that cannot be reduced to experimental noise or simple stochasticity. The proposed model does not aim to provide a direct explanation for the origin of consciousness or subjective experience. Instead, it addresses the long-standing problem of initial conditions in early biological development by offering a unified yet non-deterministic perspective that complements existing biochemical and developmental models. The framework is designed to remain compatible with current and future single-cell genomic and transcriptomic analyses, and may provide a conceptual bridge between fertilization-associated physical events and observed variability in developmental trajectories.