Autocatalytic Sets and the Origin of Life
Top Cited Papers
Open Access
- 29 June 2010
- Vol. 12 (7) , 1733-1742
- https://doi.org/10.3390/e12071733
Abstract
The origin of life is one of the most fundamental, but also one of the most difficult problems in science. Despite differences between various proposed scenarios, one common element seems to be the emergence of an autocatalytic set or cycle at some stage. However, there is still disagreement as to how likely it is that such self-sustaining sets could arise “spontaneously”. This disagreement is largely caused by the lack of formal models. Here, we briefly review some of the criticism against and evidence in favor of autocatalytic sets, and then make a case for their plausibility based on a formal framework that was introduced and studied in our previous work.Keywords
This publication has 50 references indexed in Scilit:
- Coenzyme Autocatalytic Network on the Surface of Oil Microspheres as a Model for the Origin of LifeInternational Journal of Molecular Sciences, 2009
- Computational identification of obligatorily autocatalytic replicators embedded in metabolic networksGenome Biology, 2008
- The Implausibility of Metabolic Cycles on the Prebiotic EarthPLoS Biology, 2008
- On the Chemistry and Evolution of the Pioneer OrganismChemistry & Biodiversity, 2007
- On the origin of biochemistry at an alkaline hydrothermal ventPhilosophical Transactions Of The Royal Society B-Biological Sciences, 2006
- Chembiogenesis 2005 and Systems Chemistry WorkshopAngewandte Chemie International Edition in English, 2006
- The antiquity of RNA-based evolutionNature, 2002
- Biogenesis ItselfJournal of Theoretical Biology, 1997
- Autocatalytic sets of proteinsJournal of Theoretical Biology, 1986
- Hypercycles and the origin of lifeNature, 1979