scholarly journals How Was Nature Able to Discover Its Own Laws—Twice?

Life ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (7) ◽  
pp. 679
Author(s):  
Addy Pross
Keyword(s):  
Origin Of Life ◽  
Scientific Revolution ◽  
Objective Reality ◽  
Chemical Systems ◽  
Central Thesis ◽  
Law Of Nature ◽  
Physical Chemical ◽  
Systems Chemistry ◽  
The Origin Of Life ◽  
Life Question

The central thesis of the modern scientific revolution is that nature is objective. Yet, somehow, out of that objective reality, projective systems emerged—cognitive and purposeful. More remarkably, through nature’s objective laws, chemical systems emerged and evolved to take advantage of those laws. Even more inexplicably, nature uncovered those laws twice—once unconsciously, once consciously. Accordingly, one could rephrase the origin of life question as follows: how was nature able to become self-aware and discover its own laws? What is the law of nature that enabled nature to discover its own laws? Addressing these challenging questions in physical-chemical terms may be possible through the newly emergent field of systems chemistry.

Seeking to uncover biology's chemical roots

2019 ◽  
Vol 3 (5) ◽  
pp. 435-443 ◽  
Author(s):  
Addy Pross
Keyword(s):  
Environmental Changes ◽  
Biological Systems ◽  
Significant Development ◽  
The Road ◽  
Physical Chemical ◽  
Systems Chemistry ◽  
Biological World ◽  
Inanimate Matter ◽  
The Origin Of Life ◽  
Opening Up

Despite the considerable advances in molecular biology over the past several decades, the nature of the physical–chemical process by which inanimate matter become transformed into simplest life remains elusive. In this review, we describe recent advances in a relatively new area of chemistry, systems chemistry, which attempts to uncover the physical–chemical principles underlying that remarkable transformation. A significant development has been the discovery that within the space of chemical potentiality there exists a largely unexplored kinetic domain which could be termed dynamic kinetic chemistry. Our analysis suggests that all biological systems and associated sub-systems belong to this distinct domain, thereby facilitating the placement of biological systems within a coherent physical/chemical framework. That discovery offers new insights into the origin of life process, as well as opening the door toward the preparation of active materials able to self-heal, adapt to environmental changes, even communicate, mimicking what transpires routinely in the biological world. The road to simplest proto-life appears to be opening up.

scholarly journals ‘Whole Organism’, Systems Biology, and Top-Down Criteria for Evaluating Scenarios for the Origin of Life

Life ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (7) ◽  
pp. 690
Author(s):  
Clifford F. Brunk ◽  
Charles R. Marshall
Keyword(s):  
Origin Of Life ◽  
Top Down ◽  
Chemical Systems ◽  
Biochemical Pathways ◽  
The Origin Of Life ◽  
Energy And Material Flows ◽  
Complex Scenario ◽  
Life On Earth ◽  
Physical Laws ◽  
Equilibrium Chemical

While most advances in the study of the origin of life on Earth (OoLoE) are piecemeal, tested against the laws of chemistry and physics, ultimately the goal is to develop an overall scenario for life’s origin(s). However, the dimensionality of non-equilibrium chemical systems, from the range of possible boundary conditions and chemical interactions, renders the application of chemical and physical laws difficult. Here we outline a set of simple criteria for evaluating OoLoE scenarios. These include the need for containment, steady energy and material flows, and structured spatial heterogeneity from the outset. The Principle of Continuity, the fact that all life today was derived from first life, suggests favoring scenarios with fewer non-analog (not seen in life today) to analog (seen in life today) transitions in the inferred first biochemical pathways. Top-down data also indicate that a complex metabolism predated ribozymes and enzymes, and that full cellular autonomy and motility occurred post-LUCA. Using these criteria, we find the alkaline hydrothermal vent microchamber complex scenario with a late evolving exploitation of the natural occurring pH (or Na+ gradient) by ATP synthase the most compelling. However, there are as yet so many unknowns, we also advocate for the continued development of as many plausible scenarios as possible.

scholarly journals The Grayness of the Origin of Life

Life ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (6) ◽  
pp. 498
Author(s):  
Hillary H. Smith ◽  
Andrew S. Hyde ◽  
Danielle N. Simkus ◽  
Eric Libby ◽  
Sarah E. Maurer ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Origin Of Life ◽  
Evolutionary Process ◽  
Chemical Systems ◽  
Singular Event ◽  
Prebiotic Chemical ◽  
Life Model ◽  
Life Detection ◽  
The Origin Of Life

In the search for life beyond Earth, distinguishing the living from the non-living is paramount. However, this distinction is often elusive, as the origin of life is likely a stepwise evolutionary process, not a singular event. Regardless of the favored origin of life model, an inherent “grayness” blurs the theorized threshold defining life. Here, we explore the ambiguities between the biotic and the abiotic at the origin of life. The role of grayness extends into later transitions as well. By recognizing the limitations posed by grayness, life detection researchers will be better able to develop methods sensitive to prebiotic chemical systems and life with alternative biochemistries.

Life as a cosmic imperative?

2011 ◽  
Vol 369 (1936) ◽  
pp. 620-623 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christian de Duve
Keyword(s):  
Origin Of Life ◽  
Extrasolar Planet ◽  
Second Stage ◽  
Physical Chemical ◽  
Terrestrial Life ◽  
Probable Site ◽  
The Origin Of Life ◽  
Chemical Conditions ◽  
Life On Earth ◽  
Two Stages

The origin of life on Earth may be divided into two stages separated by the first appearance of replicable molecules, most probably of RNA. The first stage depended exclusively on chemistry. The second stage likewise involved chemistry, but with the additional participation of selection, a necessary concomitant of inevitable replication accidents. Consideration of these two processes suggests that the origin of life may have been close to obligatory under the physical–chemical conditions that prevailed at the site of its birth. Thus, an extrasolar planet in which those conditions were replicated appears as a probable site for the appearance of extra-terrestrial life.

scholarly journals The origin of life: what we know, what we can know and what we will never know

Open Biology ◽  
2013 ◽  
Vol 3 (3) ◽  
pp. 120190 ◽  
Author(s):  
Addy Pross ◽  
Robert Pascal
Keyword(s):  
Origin Of Life ◽  
Systems Chemistry ◽  
Dynamic Kinetic Stability ◽  
Underlying Principle ◽  
The Origin Of Life ◽  
The Stability ◽  
The Many ◽  
In The Mists ◽  
Physical And Chemical ◽  
Scientific Questions

The origin of life (OOL) problem remains one of the more challenging scientific questions of all time. In this essay, we propose that following recent experimental and theoretical advances in systems chemistry, the underlying principle governing the emergence of life on the Earth can in its broadest sense be specified, and may be stated as follows: all stable (persistent) replicating systems will tend to evolve over time towards systems of greater stability. The stability kind referred to, however, is dynamic kinetic stability, and quite distinct from the traditional thermodynamic stability which conventionally dominates physical and chemical thinking. Significantly, that stability kind is generally found to be enhanced by increasing complexification, since added features in the replicating system that improve replication efficiency will be reproduced, thereby offering an explanation for the emergence of life's extraordinary complexity. On the basis of that simple principle, a fundamental reassessment of the underlying chemistry–biology relationship is possible, one with broad ramifications. In the context of the OOL question, this novel perspective can assist in clarifying central ahistoric aspects of abiogenesis, as opposed to the many historic aspects that have probably been forever lost in the mists of time.

scholarly journals Can prebiotic reaction systems survive in the wild? An interference chemistry approach

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Craig Walton ◽  
Paul B. Rimmer ◽  
Oliver Shorttle
Keyword(s):  
Origin Of Life ◽  
Prebiotic Chemistry ◽  
Reaction System ◽  
Natural Environments ◽  
Experimental Systems ◽  
Systems Chemistry ◽  
In The Wild ◽  
The Origin Of Life ◽  
Life On Earth ◽  
Work Interference

The origin of life occurred by a series of prebiotic reaction pathways (collectively a system) hosted in one or more geochemical environments (together forming an origin of life scenario). State-of-the-art prebiotic chemistry links together reactions to create systems, intended to be more representative of the diverse chemical pathways that may have proceeded on early Earth. By practical necessity, prebiotic systems chemistry must be investigated under simplified conditions in comparison to likely natural environments. The mismatch in complexity between lab and environment poses a challenge: how to build systems chemistry that is robust not only in the idealised conditions of a lab, but also under natural levels of environmental stress? Here, we propose and formalise a conceptual framework for such work: interference chemistry. We define interference chemistry as the interaction between prebiotic systems chemistry and the environmental scenarios proposed to host it. Natural environments in which prebiotic chemistry could have occurred are messy, containing many spectator ions, mineral phases, and spatially and temporally variable physical processes, e.g., wet/dry cycles. Each of these environmental variables may interfere either constructively or destructively with prebiotic pathways, respectively aiding or inhibiting their efficacy. Exploring interference chemistry for a reaction system will point towards favoured or disfavoured regions of environmental parameter space. To do so, innovation is needed in both the investigation of early planetary environmental conditions, and the continued incorporation of these constraints into experimental systems chemistry. We argue that interference chemistry provides a compelling way to assess combinations of system and environment, leading the way to increasingly prebiotically plausible scenarios for the origin of life on Earth.

The Tempo and mode(S) of Prebiotic Evolution

1997 ◽  
Vol 161 ◽  
pp. 419-429 ◽  
Author(s):  
Antonio Lazcano
Keyword(s):  
Origin Of Life ◽  
Organic Compounds ◽  
Biological Evolution ◽  
Current Evidence ◽  
Early Diversification ◽  
Time Period ◽  
The Galaxy ◽  
History Of ◽  
Widespread Phenomenon ◽  
The Origin Of Life

AbstractDifferent current ideas on the origin of life are critically examined. Comparison of the now fashionable FeS/H2S pyrite-based autotrophic theory of the origin of life with the heterotrophic viewpoint suggest that the later is still the most fertile explanation for the emergence of life. However, the theory of chemical evolution and heterotrophic origins of life requires major updating, which should include the abandonment of the idea that the appearance of life was a slow process involving billions of years. Stability of organic compounds and the genetics of bacteria suggest that the origin and early diversification of life took place in a time period of the order of 10 million years. Current evidence suggest that the abiotic synthesis of organic compounds may be a widespread phenomenon in the Galaxy and may have a deterministic nature. However, the history of the biosphere does not exhibits any obvious trend towards greater complexity or «higher» forms of life. Therefore, the role of contingency in biological evolution should not be understimated in the discussions of the possibilities of life in the Universe.

Photochemical Evolution of Interstellar/Precometary Organic Material

1997 ◽  
Vol 161 ◽  
pp. 23-47 ◽  
Author(s):  
Louis J. Allamandola ◽  
Max P. Bernstein ◽  
Scott A. Sandford
Keyword(s):  
Origin Of Life ◽  
Building Blocks ◽  
Complex Species ◽  
Infrared Observations ◽  
Interstellar Ice ◽  
Polycyclic Aromatic ◽  
Ultraviolet Photolysis ◽  
The Origin Of Life ◽  
Simple Molecules ◽  
Complex Organic

AbstractInfrared observations, combined with realistic laboratory simulations, have revolutionized our understanding of interstellar ice and dust, the building blocks of comets. Since comets are thought to be a major source of the volatiles on the primative earth, their organic inventory is of central importance to questions concerning the origin of life. Ices in molecular clouds contain the very simple molecules H2O, CH3OH, CO, CO2, CH4, H2, and probably some NH3and H2CO, as well as more complex species including nitriles, ketones, and esters. The evidence for these, as well as carbonrich materials such as polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), microdiamonds, and amorphous carbon is briefly reviewed. This is followed by a detailed summary of interstellar/precometary ice photochemical evolution based on laboratory studies of realistic polar ice analogs. Ultraviolet photolysis of these ices produces H2, H2CO, CO2, CO, CH4, HCO, and the moderately complex organic molecules: CH3CH2OH (ethanol), HC(= O)NH2(formamide), CH3C(= O)NH2(acetamide), R-CN (nitriles), and hexamethylenetetramine (HMT, C6H12N4), as well as more complex species including polyoxymethylene and related species (POMs), amides, and ketones. The ready formation of these organic species from simple starting mixtures, the ice chemistry that ensues when these ices are mildly warmed, plus the observation that the more complex refractory photoproducts show lipid-like behavior and readily self organize into droplets upon exposure to liquid water suggest that comets may have played an important role in the origin of life.

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