Gravity As A Boundary Condition For The Evolution Of Three-Dimensional Multicellularity

Life evolved under a persistent 1 g field that is continuous, ubiquitous, and directionally structured.

Here, we synthesize evidence across evolutionary biology, mechanobiology, and genome architecture to propose gravity as a mechanical boundary condition that helped canalize the emergence of complex multicellularity.

Order-of-magnitude considerations indicate that gravity-derived hydrostatic loads can fall within force/pressure regimes relevant to nuclear and chromatin mechanosensitivity when transmitted through adhesion–cytoskeleton–LINC–lamina coupling.

Comparative genomic and imaging frameworks suggest that complex animals increasingly rely on volumetric genome organization (packing domains and higher-order 3D architectures) that supports durable transcriptional memory and stable differentiated cell identities.

Integrating these concepts with altered-gravity experiments, we argue that microgravity and hypergravity perturb chromatin topology and region-level transcription in rapid, largely reversible patterns consistent with a mechanically defined 1 g reference state.

We advance a boundary-condition thesis: gravity is not a sole driver but a stable reference that likely contributed to the evolvability and long-term robustness of mechanogenomic architectures required for high-dimensional differentiation and tissue homeostasis.

Gravity as a Boundary Condition for the Evolution of Three-Dimensional Multicellularity, Life (open access)

Astrobiology, space biology,