Emergence of Function and Selection from Recursively Programmed Polymerisation Reactions in Mineral Environments.

ABSTRACT: Living systems are characterised by an ability to sustain chemical reaction networks far-from-equilibrium. It is likely that life first arose through a process of continual disruption of equilibrium states in recursive reaction networks, driven by periodic environmental changes. Herein, we report the emergence of proto-enzymatic function from recursive polymerisation reactions using amino acids and glycolic acid. Reactions were kept out of equilibrium by diluting products 9:1 in fresh starting solution at the end of each recursive cycle, and the development of complex high molecular weight species is explored using a new metric, the Mass Index, which allows the complexity of the system to be explored as a function of cycle. This process was carried out on a range of different mineral envir

SUBMITTER: Doran D 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6772075 | biostudies-literature | 2019 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature