The Basin of Identity: microRNA as a Kinetic Anchor in Multicellular Dynamics

This preprint is a conceptual companion to Life as a Phase Transition, which develops a dynamical framework for the origin of life as the emergence of a stable metabolic basin in chemical state-space. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.18176157 While the earlier work focuses on abiogenesis and primordial chemistry, the present paper applies the same basin and kinetic-constraint logic to a later evolutionary transition: multicellularity. In particular, it examines how differentiated cellular identities can be stabilised within a shared genome, and interprets microRNA-mediated regulation as a kinetic anchoring mechanism that preserves identity basins against stochastic drift. The two papers are designed to be read independently, but together illustrate how regulation-first principles governing biological persistence extend across scales, from early metabolism to complex multicellular organisation. This paper is Companion Paper 2 in a series developing a regulation-first, boundary-centric framework for biological identity. Life as a Phase Transition — Series Overview Foundational framework A. An Architectural Origin of Organismal UnityFoundational Paperhttps://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.18305134 B. Life as a Phase TransitionFoundational Paperhttps://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.18176157→ Defines life as a maintained, non-equilibrium basin governed by regulation and boundary constraints. Heredity constraint and theory closure C. The Analogue Heredity Ceiling and the Basin Digitisation TransitionHeredity constraint frameworkhttps://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.18250555→ Formalises the limit of compositional (analogue) heredity and explains why replayable archives (digitisation) become unavoidable within the life-as-a-phase-transition framework. Companion papers — Mechanisms and consequences 2. The Basin of Identity: microRNA as a Kinetic Anchor in Multicellular Dynamics https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.18181118 → Explores how kinetic anchoring mechanisms stabilise basin identity in multicellular systems, now interpretable as local management of identity dimensionality and heritability stress. 3.Boundary Shedding as Basin MaintenanceA Control-Theoretic Extension of Life as a Phase Transitionhttps://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.18215113→ Describes boundary shedding as a regulatory strategy for maintaining basin coherence under stress. 4.Cohesive Membranes and the Emergence of Multicellular Basin IdentityWhen Many Compartments Become One Organismhttps://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.18215283→ Examines how multicellular organisation emerges from coupled boundary systems and shared basin identity. 5. From Control to ReplayArchives, Development, and Sexual Reproduction in Boundary-Defined Lifehttps://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.18215367→ Investigates replay, development, and sexual reproduction as stabilising mechanisms, now unified by the Basin Digitisation Transition. 6. Boundary Architecture and Failure in Living SystemsA regulation-first classification of biological formhttps://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.18226987→ Classifies biological form and failure modes through boundary architecture and regulatory breakdown. 7.The Boundary Renewal Principle:An Architectural Account of Heredity and Evolutionhttps://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.18335521