Theory | Mysite

"Autocatalysis underlies reproduction, growth, and self-maintenance, making it a necessary condition for evolution and a core feature of life. The importance of autocatalysis is widely accepted, as is the autocatalytic character of metabolism. However, it remains unclear how widespread autocatalytic systems are and whether autocatalytic systems can evolve prior to the origin of genetic polymers or encapsulation in protocells. This session will cover theoretical and empirical research that elucidates the structure and dynamics of autocatalytic systems. Likely topics include: methods for detecting autocatalytic kinetics from experimental data; identifying autocatalytic motifs in chemical reaction networks; the ecology of interacting autocatalytic cycles and how these interactions are affected by the environment (food flux, spatial structure, disturbance, compartmentalization); the evolutionary or pre-evolutionary properties of autocatalytic systems (heredity, variation, selection), and the role of polymers and templating in autocatalytic closure."

Theory and Modeling

Abramov, O., K.L. Bebell, S.J. Mojzsis 2021. Emergent bioanalogous properties of blockchain-based distributed systems. Orig. Life Evol. Biospheres 51:131-165.

Brunk, C.F., C.R. Marshall 2021. 'Whole-organism', systems biology, and top-down criteria for evaluating scenarios for the origin of life. Life 11(7): 690.

Deamer, D. 2017. Conjecture and hypothesis: the importance of reality checks. Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 13: 620–624.

Eigen, M. and P. Schuster 1977. The hypercycle: a principle of natural self-organization. Die Naturwissenschaften 64(11): 541-565.

Flack, J.C. 2017. Coarse-graining as a downward causation mechanism. Phil. Trans. Royal Soc. A. 375: doi.org/10.1098/rsta.2016.0338

Fortuna, M.A., L. Zaman, A. Wagner, J. Bascompte 2017. Non-adaptive origins of evolutionary innovations increase network complexity in interacting digital organisms. Phil. Trans. Roy. Soc. B. 372:20160431.

Hordijk, W. J. Naylor, N. Krasnogor, H. Fellermann 2018. Population dynamics of autocatalytic sets in a compartmentalized spatial world.
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Kempes, C.P., D.C. Krakauer 2021. Multiple paths to multiple life. J.Mol.Evol. 89:415-426.

Ochoa, J.G.D. 2018. Elastic multi-scale mechanisms: computation and biological evolution. J. Mol. Evol. 86:47-57.

Sharma, S., A. Aayush, R. Cruz, H.J. Cleaves 2021. Automated exploration of prebiotic chemical reaction space: progress and perspectives. Life 11: 1140.

Wong, M.L., C.E. Cleland, D. Arend, S. Bartlett, H.J. Cleaves, H. Demarest, A. Prabhu, J.I. Lunine, R.M. Hazen 2023. On the role of function and selection in evolving systems. PNAS 120 (43): e2310223120.

Emergence of Life and Earth's Biosphere

Review and analysis of scientific research and theory bearing on knowledge of Earth’s protogeobiosphere, origins and evolution of protobiont complexity, and emergence of life in the cosmos.