Interfaces, Not Molecules A Core Essay on Membrane State Transitions in the Prebiotic World

This conceptual essay argues that the emergence of life and the stability of living systems are rooted not in specific molecular reactions, but in the physical regulation of interfaces. Focusing on the prebiotic world, the text examines interactions between simple lipid membranes and mineral surfaces such as silica and clay. These systems illustrate how contact between distinct interfaces can induce collective, threshold-driven state transitions without requiring complex chemistry. Membranes are described as dynamic, state-dependent interfaces that regulate hydration, electrostatics, and mechanical stress, thereby controlling the rate and extent of environmental change experienced by internal processes. The anoxic–oxic transition is presented as a historical precedent in which membrane-mediated regulation of contact enabled survival across a global environmental shift. The essay proposes a general physical principle: living systems persist not by eliminating perturbations, but by filtering and temporally buffering changes at interfaces. This interface-centered perspective provides a clean framework for studying state transitions relevant to the origin of life and, by extension, to modern biological instability.