Establishing a measurable signature that is a generic consequence of self-replication alone

Establish a measurable signature that arises generically from self-replication and Darwinian evolution alone, independent of specific molecular implementations or metabolic details.

Background

While self-replication and Darwinian evolution are considered minimal and universal attributes of life, the authors emphasize that there is no known measurable signature that follows from these features alone. Their proposed signature—energy-ordered resource stratification—also relies on ecological interactions in addition to self-replication, leaving open the stricter goal of a signature stemming from self-replication alone.

This highlights a foundational question in agnostic biosignature research: whether there exists a measurable, universally applicable indicator tied solely to the most minimal definition of life.