José Ignacio Arroyo, Beatriz Díez, Christopher P. Kempes, Geoffrey B. West, and Pablo A. Marquet

PNAS 119 (30) e2119872119

One of the most fundamental physical constraints on living systems is temperature. Despite its importance, a simple, mechanistic, and general theory that fully predicts the response to temperature across all scales has not yet been derived. Here we develop such a theory based on the fundamental chemical kinetics and statistical physics governing the biochemical reactions that support life. Our mathematical framework includes an explanation for why temperature response curves have a maximum or minimum value and the derivation of a single universal curve onto which data for the temperature dependence of diverse biological quantities covering all levels of organization, collapse. The theory has multiple potential applications including predicting responses to global warming, yields of industrial processes, and epidemic outbreaks.

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