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Submit a ProposalConflicting Models for the Origin of Life
 | Edited by Stoyan K. Smoukov, Joseph Seckbach, Richard Gordon Series: Astrobiology Perspectives on Life in the Universe Copyright: 2023 | Status: Published ISBN: 9781119555520 | Hardcover | 502 pages | 166 illustrations Price: $245 USD  |
One Line Description
Conflicting Models for the Origin of Life provides a forum to compare and contrast the many hypotheses that have been put forward to explain the origin of life.
Audience
Researchers in any area of astrobiology, as well as others interested in the origins of life, will find a modern and current review of the field and the current debates and obstacles. This book will clearly illustrate the current state of the art and engage the imagination and creativity of experts across many disciplines.
Researchers in any area of astrobiology, as well as others interested in the origins of life, will find a modern and current review of the field and the current debates and obstacles. This book will clearly illustrate the current state of the art and engage the imagination and creativity of experts across many disciplines.
Description
There is a revolution brewing in the field of Origin of Life: in the process of trying to figure out how Life started, many researchers believe there is an impending second creation of life, not necessarily biological. Up-to-date understanding is needed to prepare us for the technological, and societal changes it would bring. Schrodinger’s 1944 “What is life?” included the insight of an information carrier, which inspired the discovery of the structure of DNA. In “Conflicting Models of the Origin of Life” a selection of the world’s experts are brought together to cover different aspects of the research: from progress towards synthetic life – artificial cells and sub-cellular components, to new definitions of life and the unexpected places life could (have) emerge(d). Chapters also cover fundamental questions of how memory could emerge from memoryless processes, and how we can tell if a molecule may have emerged from life. Similarly, cutting-edge research discusses plausible reactions for the emergence of life both on Earth and on exoplanets. Additional perspectives from geologists, philosophers and even roboticists thinking about the origin of life round out this volume. The text is a state-of-the-art snapshot of the latest developments on the emergence of life, to be used both in graduate classes and by citizen scientists.
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There is a revolution brewing in the field of Origin of Life: in the process of trying to figure out how Life started, many researchers believe there is an impending second creation of life, not necessarily biological. Up-to-date understanding is needed to prepare us for the technological, and societal changes it would bring. Schrodinger’s 1944 “What is life?” included the insight of an information carrier, which inspired the discovery of the structure of DNA. In “Conflicting Models of the Origin of Life” a selection of the world’s experts are brought together to cover different aspects of the research: from progress towards synthetic life – artificial cells and sub-cellular components, to new definitions of life and the unexpected places life could (have) emerge(d). Chapters also cover fundamental questions of how memory could emerge from memoryless processes, and how we can tell if a molecule may have emerged from life. Similarly, cutting-edge research discusses plausible reactions for the emergence of life both on Earth and on exoplanets. Additional perspectives from geologists, philosophers and even roboticists thinking about the origin of life round out this volume. The text is a state-of-the-art snapshot of the latest developments on the emergence of life, to be used both in graduate classes and by citizen scientists.
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Author / Editor Details
Stoyan Smoukov, PhD, is a Professor at Queen Mary University of London, leading the Active & Intelligent Materials (AIM) Lab (previously from 2012-2017 at the University of Cambridge). He has led pioneering research in multi-functional materials with the support of the prestigious European Research Council individual ERC grant. His focus on bottom-up design for inanimate materials has yielded novel artificial muscles, supercapacitors, multifunctional materials which can replace whole devices, the discovery of artificial morphogenesis, and combinatorial approaches to multi-functionality. Prof. Smoukov has published more than 95 journal papers, cited over 4000 times, with an H-index of 35.
Stoyan Smoukov, PhD, is a Professor at Queen Mary University of London, leading the Active & Intelligent Materials (AIM) Lab (previously from 2012-2017 at the University of Cambridge). He has led pioneering research in multi-functional materials with the support of the prestigious European Research Council individual ERC grant. His focus on bottom-up design for inanimate materials has yielded novel artificial muscles, supercapacitors, multifunctional materials which can replace whole devices, the discovery of artificial morphogenesis, and combinatorial approaches to multi-functionality. Prof. Smoukov has published more than 95 journal papers, cited over 4000 times, with an H-index of 35.
Joseph Seckbach, PhD, is a retired senior academician at The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Israel. He earned his PhD from the University of Chicago and did a post-doctorate in the Division of Biology at Caltech, in Pasadena, CA. He served at Louisiana State University (LSU), Baton Rouge, LA, USA, as the first selected Chair for the Louisiana Sea Grant and Technology transfer. Professor Joseph Seckbach has edited over 40 scientific books and authored about 140 scientific articles.
Richard Gordon, PhD, is a theoretical biologist who retired from the Department of Radiology, University of Manitoba in 2011. Presently he is at Gulf Specimen Marine Lab & Aquarium, Panacea, Florida. His interest in exobiology (now astrobiology) dates from 1960s undergraduate work on organic matter in the Orgueil meteorite with Edward Anders. He has published critical reviews of panspermia and the history of discoveries of life in meteorites, and with Stoyan Smoukov, worked on shaped droplets supporting the Archaea First Hypothesis.
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Table of Contents
Foreword, “Are There Men on the Moon?” by Winston S. Churchill
Preface
Appendix to Preface by Richard Gordon and George Mikhailovsky
Part I: Introduction to the Origin of Life Puzzle
1. Origin of Life: Conflicting Models for the Origin of Life
Sohan Jheeta and Elias Chatzitheodoridis
1.1 Introduction
1.2 Top-Down Approach—The Phylogenetic Tree of Life
1.3 Bottom-Up Approach—The Hypotheses
1.4 The Emergence of Chemolithoautotrophs and Photolithoautotrophs?
1.5 Viruses: The Fourth Domain of Life?
1.6 Where are We with the Origin of Life on Earth?
References
2. Characterizing Life: Four Dimensions and their Relevance to Origin of Life Research
Emily C. Parke
2.1 Introduction
2.2 The Debate About (Defining) Life
2.2.1 The Debate and the Meta-Debate
2.2.2 Defining Life is Only One Way to Address the Question “What is Life?”
2.3 Does Origin of Life Research Need a Characterization of Life?
2.4 Dimensions of Characterizing Life
2.4.1 Dimension 1: Dichotomy or Matter of Degree?
2.4.2 Dimension 2: Material or Functional?
2.4.3 Dimension 3: Individual or Collective?
2.4.4 Dimension 4: Minimal or Inclusive
2.4.5 Summary Discussion of the Dimensions
2.5 Conclusion
Acknowledgments
References
3. Emergence, Construction, or Unlikely? Navigating the Space of Questions
Regarding Life’s Origins
Stuart Bartlett and Michael L. Wong
3.1 How Can We Approach the Origins Quest(ion)?
3.2 Avian Circularities
3.3 Assuming That...
3.4 Unlikely
3.5 Construction
3.6 Emergence
References
Part II: Chemistry Approaches
4. The Origin of Metabolism and GADV Hypothesis on the Origin of Life
Kenji Ikehara
4.1 Introduction
4.2 [GADV]-Amino Acids and Protein 0th-Order Structure
4.3 Exploration of the Initial Metabolism: The Origin of Metabolism
4.3.1 From What Kind of Enzymatic Reactions Did the Metabolic System Originate?
4.3.2 What Kind of Organic Compounds Accumulated on the Primitive Earth
4.3.3 What Organic Compounds were Required for the First Life to Emerge?
4.4 From Reactions Using What Kind of Organic Compounds Did the Metabolism Originate?
4.4.1 Catalytic Reactions with What Kind of Organic Compounds Were Incorporated Into the Initial Metabolism?
4.4.2 Search for Metabolic Reactions Incorporated Into the Initial Metabolism
4.4.3 Syntheses of [GADV]-Amino Acids Leading to Produce [GADV] Proteins/Peptides Were One of the Most Important Matters for the First Life
4.4.4 Nucleotide Synthetic Pathways were Integrated at the Second Phase in the Initial Metabolism
4.5 Discussion
4.5.1 Protein 0th-Order Structure Was the Key for Solving the Origin of Metabolism
4.5.2 Validity of GPG-Three Compounds Hypothesis on the Origin of Metabolism
4.5.3 Establishment of the Metabolic System and the Emergence of Life
4.5.4 The Emergence of Life Viewed from the Origin of Metabolism
Acknowledgments
References
5. Chemical Automata at the Origins of Life
André Brack
5.1 Introduction
5.2 Theoretical Models
5.2.1 The Chemoton Model
5.2.2 Autopoiesis
5.2.3 Biotic Abstract Dual Automata
5.2.4 Automata and Diffusion-Controlled Reactions
5.2.5 Quasi-Species and Hypercycle
5.2.6 Computer Modeling
5.2.7 Two-Dimensional Automata
5.3 Experimental Approach
5.3.1 The Ingredients for Life
5.3.2 Capabilities Required for the Chemical Automata
5.3.2.1 Autonomy
5.3.2.2 Self-Ordering and Self-Organization
5.3.2.3 About Discriminating Aggregation
5.3.2.4 Autocatalysis and Competition
5.4 Conclusion
References
6. A Universal Chemical Constructor to Explore the Nature and Origin of Life
Geoffrey J. T. Cooper, Sara I. Walker and Leroy Cronin
6.1 Introduction
6.2 Digitization of Chemistry
6.3 Environmental Programming, Recursive Cycles, and Protocells
6.4 Measuring Complexity and Chemical Selection Engines
6.5 Constructing a Chemical Selection Engine
Acknowledgements
References
7. How to Make a Transmembrane Domain at the Origin of Life: A Possible Origin of Proteins
Richard Gordon and Natalie K. Gordon
7.1 Introduction
7.2 The Initial “Core” Amino Acids
7.3 The Thickness of Membranes of the First Vesicles
7.4 Carbon–Carbon Distances Perpendicular to a Membrane
7.5 The Thickness of Modern Membranes
7.6 A Prebiotic Model for the Coordinated Growth of Membrane Thickness and Transmembrane Peptides
7.7 A Model for the Coordinated Growth of Membrane Thickness and Transmembrane Peptides
7.8 RNA World with the Protein World
7.9 Conclusion
Acknowledgements
References
Part III: Physics Approaches
8. Patterns that Persist: Heritable Information in Stochastic Dynamics
Peter M. Tzelios and Kyle J. M. Bishop
8.1 Introduction
8.2 Markov Processes
8.2.1 Simple Examples of Markov Processes
8.2.2 Stochastic Dynamics
8.2.3 Master Equation
8.2.4 Dynamic Persistence
8.2.5 Coarse Graining
8.2.6 Entropy Production
8.3 Results
8.3.1 The Persistence Filter
8.4 Mechanisms of Persistence
8.5 Effects of Size N and Disequilibrium γ
8.6 Probability of Persistence
8.6.1 Continuity Constraint
8.6.2 Locality Constraint
8.6.3 New Strategies for Persistence
8.7 Measuring Persistence in Practice
8.7.1 Computable Information Density (CID)
8.7.2 Quantifying Persistence in Dynamic Assemblies of Colloidal Rollers
8.8 Conclusions
8.9 Methods
8.9.1 Coarse-Graining
8.10 Monte Carlo Optimization
8.11 Experiments on Ferromagnetic Rollers
8.12 A Persistence in Equilibrium Systems
Acknowledgements
References
9. When We Were Triangles: Shape in the Origin of Life via Abiotic, Shaped
Droplets to Living, Polygonal Archaea During the Abiocene
Richard Gordon
9.1 Introduction
9.1.1 What Correlates with Archaea Shape? Nothing!
9.1.2 Archaea’s Place in the Tree of Life
9.1.3 The Discovery and Exploration of Shaped Droplets
9.1.4 Shaped Droplets as Protocells
9.1.5 Comparison of Shaped Droplets with Archaea
9.1.6 The S-Layer
9.1.7 The S-Layer as a Two-Dimensional Liquid with Fault Lines
9.1.8 The Analogy of the S-Layer to Bubble Rafts
9.1.9 Energy Minimization Model for the S-Layer in Polygonal Archaea
9.2 Discussion
9.3 Conclusion
Acknowledgements
References
10. Challenges and Perspectives of Robot Inventors that Autonomously Design, Build, and Test Physical Robots
Fumiya Iida, Toby Howison, Simon Hauser and Josie Hughes
10.1 Introduction
10.2 Physical Evolutionary-Developmental Robotics
10.2.1 Robotic Invention
10.2.2 Physical Morphology Adaptation
10.3 Falling Paper Design Experiments
10.3.1 Design–Behavior Mapping
10.3.2 More Variations of Paper Falling Patterns
10.3.3 Characterizing Falling Paper Behaviors
10.4 Evolutionary Dynamics of Collective Bernoulli Balloons
10.5 Discussions and Conclusions
Acknowledgments
References
Part IV: The Approach of Creating Life 279
11. Synthetic Cells: A Route Toward Assembling Life
Antoni Llopis-Lorente, N. Amy Yewdall, Alexander F. Mason, Loai K. E. A. Abdelmohsen and Jan C. M. van Hest
11.1 Compartmentalization: Putting Life in a Box
11.2 The Making of Cell-Sized Giant Liposomes
11.3 Coacervate-Based Synthetic Cells
11.4 Adaptivity and Functionality in Synthetic Cells
11.5 Synthetic Cell Information Processing and Communication
11.6 Intracellular Information Processing: Making Decisions with All the Noise
11.7 Extracellular Communication: the Art of Talking and Selective Listening
11.8 Conclusions
Acknowledgments
References
12. Origin of Life from a Maker’s Perspective–Focus on Protocellular
Compartments in Bottom-Up Synthetic Biology
Ivan Ivanov, Stoyan K. Smoukov, Ehsan Nourafkan, Katharina Landfester and Petra Schwille
12.1 Introduction
12.2 Unifying the Plausible Protocells in Line with the Crowded Cell
12.3 Self-Sustained Cycles of Growth and Division
12.4 Transport and Energy Generation at the Interface
12.4.1 Energy and Complexity
12.4.2 Energy Compartmentation
12.5 Synergistic Effects Towards the Origin of Life
References
Part V: When and Where Did Life Start?
13. A Nuclear Geyser Origin of Life: Life Assembly Plant – Three-Step Model for the Emergence of the First Life on Earth and Cell Dynamics for the Coevolution of Life’s Functions
Shigenori Maruyama and Toshikazu Ebisuzaki
13.1 Introduction
13.2 Natural Nuclear Reactor
13.2.1 Principle of a Natural Nuclear Reactor
13.2.2 Natural Nuclear Reactor in Gabon
13.2.3 Radiation Chemistry to Produce Organics
13.2.4 Hadean Natural Nuclear Reactor
13.3 Nuclear Geyser Model as a Birthplace of Life on the Hadean Earth
13.4 Nine Requirements for the Birthplace of Life
13.5 Three-Step Model for the Emergence of the First Life on Hadean Earth
13.5.1 The Emergence of the First Proto-Life
13.5.1.1 Domain I: Inorganics
13.5.1.2 Domain II: From Inorganic to Organic
13.5.1.3 Domain III: Production of More Advanced BBL
13.5.1.4 Domain IV: Passage Connecting Geyser Main Room with the Surface and Fountain Flow
13.5.1.5 Domain V: Production of BBL in an Oxidizing Wet–Dry Surface Environment
13.5.1.6 Domain VI: Birthplace of the First Proto-Life
13.5.1.7 Utilization of Metallic Proteins
13.5.2 The Emergence of the Second Proto-Life
13.5.2.1 Drastic Environmental Change from Step 1 to Step 2
13.5.2.2 Biological Response from Step 1 to Step 2
13.5.3 The Emergence of the Third Proto-Life, Prokaryote
13.5.3.1 Drastic Environmental Changes from Step 2 to Step 3
13.5.3.2 Biological Response from Step 2 to Step 3
13.6 Concept of the Cell Dynamics: Life Assembly Plant
Acknowledgments
References
14. Comments on the Nuclear Geyser Origin of Life Proposal of the Authors S. Maruyama and T. Ebisuzaki and Interstellar Medium as a Possible Birthplace of Life
Jaroslav Jiřík
References
15. Nucleotide Photochemistry on the Early Earth
Whitaker, D. E., Colville, B.W.F. and Powner, M. W.
15.1 Introduction
15.2 Pyrimidine Photochemistry
15.2.1 Photohydrates
15.2.2 Photodimers
15.2.3 Glycosidic Bond Cleavage
15.2.4 Addition of Nucleophiles to C2
15.3 Purine Photochemistry
15.4 Photochemistry of Noncanonical Nucleosides
15.4.1 Photochemical Anomerization of Cytidine Nucleosides
15.4.2 Thiobase Irradiation Products
15.4.3 Photochemical Decarboxylation of Orotidine
15.4.4 Photochemical Synthesis of AICN, a Possible Synthetic Precursor to the Purines
15.5 Considering More Complex Photochemical Systems
15.6 Concluding Remarks
References
16. Origins of Life on Exoplanets
Paul B. Rimmer
16.1 Introduction
16.2 How to Test Origins Hypotheses
16.3 Exoplanets as Laboratories
16.4 The Scenario
16.5 Initial Conditions
16.5.1 Chemical Initial Conditions
16.5.1.1 Hydrogen Cyanide
16.5.1.2 Sulfite and Sulfide
16.5.2 Physical Initial Conditions
16.6 Chances of Success
16.7 Relevance of the Outcome
16.8 Conclusions
Acknowledgements
References
17. The Fish Ladder Toy Model for a Thermodynamically at Equilibrium Origin of Life in a Lipid World in an Endoreic Lake
Richard Gordon, Shruti Raj Vansh Singh, Krishna Katyal and Natalie K. Gordon
17.1 The Fish Ladder Model for the Origin of Life
17.2 Could the Late Heavy Bombardment have Supplied Enough Amphiphiles?
17.3 How Many Uphill Steps to LUCA?
17.4 How Long Would the Origin of Life Take After the CVC is Achieved?
17.5 Conclusion
Acknowledgements
Appendix (Discussion with David Deamer)
References
Index
Back to Top
Foreword, “Are There Men on the Moon?” by Winston S. Churchill
Preface
Appendix to Preface by Richard Gordon and George Mikhailovsky
Part I: Introduction to the Origin of Life Puzzle
1. Origin of Life: Conflicting Models for the Origin of Life
Sohan Jheeta and Elias Chatzitheodoridis
1.1 Introduction
1.2 Top-Down Approach—The Phylogenetic Tree of Life
1.3 Bottom-Up Approach—The Hypotheses
1.4 The Emergence of Chemolithoautotrophs and Photolithoautotrophs?
1.5 Viruses: The Fourth Domain of Life?
1.6 Where are We with the Origin of Life on Earth?
References
2. Characterizing Life: Four Dimensions and their Relevance to Origin of Life Research
Emily C. Parke
2.1 Introduction
2.2 The Debate About (Defining) Life
2.2.1 The Debate and the Meta-Debate
2.2.2 Defining Life is Only One Way to Address the Question “What is Life?”
2.3 Does Origin of Life Research Need a Characterization of Life?
2.4 Dimensions of Characterizing Life
2.4.1 Dimension 1: Dichotomy or Matter of Degree?
2.4.2 Dimension 2: Material or Functional?
2.4.3 Dimension 3: Individual or Collective?
2.4.4 Dimension 4: Minimal or Inclusive
2.4.5 Summary Discussion of the Dimensions
2.5 Conclusion
Acknowledgments
References
3. Emergence, Construction, or Unlikely? Navigating the Space of Questions
Regarding Life’s Origins
Stuart Bartlett and Michael L. Wong
3.1 How Can We Approach the Origins Quest(ion)?
3.2 Avian Circularities
3.3 Assuming That...
3.4 Unlikely
3.5 Construction
3.6 Emergence
References
Part II: Chemistry Approaches
4. The Origin of Metabolism and GADV Hypothesis on the Origin of Life
Kenji Ikehara
4.1 Introduction
4.2 [GADV]-Amino Acids and Protein 0th-Order Structure
4.3 Exploration of the Initial Metabolism: The Origin of Metabolism
4.3.1 From What Kind of Enzymatic Reactions Did the Metabolic System Originate?
4.3.2 What Kind of Organic Compounds Accumulated on the Primitive Earth
4.3.3 What Organic Compounds were Required for the First Life to Emerge?
4.4 From Reactions Using What Kind of Organic Compounds Did the Metabolism Originate?
4.4.1 Catalytic Reactions with What Kind of Organic Compounds Were Incorporated Into the Initial Metabolism?
4.4.2 Search for Metabolic Reactions Incorporated Into the Initial Metabolism
4.4.3 Syntheses of [GADV]-Amino Acids Leading to Produce [GADV] Proteins/Peptides Were One of the Most Important Matters for the First Life
4.4.4 Nucleotide Synthetic Pathways were Integrated at the Second Phase in the Initial Metabolism
4.5 Discussion
4.5.1 Protein 0th-Order Structure Was the Key for Solving the Origin of Metabolism
4.5.2 Validity of GPG-Three Compounds Hypothesis on the Origin of Metabolism
4.5.3 Establishment of the Metabolic System and the Emergence of Life
4.5.4 The Emergence of Life Viewed from the Origin of Metabolism
Acknowledgments
References
5. Chemical Automata at the Origins of Life
André Brack
5.1 Introduction
5.2 Theoretical Models
5.2.1 The Chemoton Model
5.2.2 Autopoiesis
5.2.3 Biotic Abstract Dual Automata
5.2.4 Automata and Diffusion-Controlled Reactions
5.2.5 Quasi-Species and Hypercycle
5.2.6 Computer Modeling
5.2.7 Two-Dimensional Automata
5.3 Experimental Approach
5.3.1 The Ingredients for Life
5.3.2 Capabilities Required for the Chemical Automata
5.3.2.1 Autonomy
5.3.2.2 Self-Ordering and Self-Organization
5.3.2.3 About Discriminating Aggregation
5.3.2.4 Autocatalysis and Competition
5.4 Conclusion
References
6. A Universal Chemical Constructor to Explore the Nature and Origin of Life
Geoffrey J. T. Cooper, Sara I. Walker and Leroy Cronin
6.1 Introduction
6.2 Digitization of Chemistry
6.3 Environmental Programming, Recursive Cycles, and Protocells
6.4 Measuring Complexity and Chemical Selection Engines
6.5 Constructing a Chemical Selection Engine
Acknowledgements
References
7. How to Make a Transmembrane Domain at the Origin of Life: A Possible Origin of Proteins
Richard Gordon and Natalie K. Gordon
7.1 Introduction
7.2 The Initial “Core” Amino Acids
7.3 The Thickness of Membranes of the First Vesicles
7.4 Carbon–Carbon Distances Perpendicular to a Membrane
7.5 The Thickness of Modern Membranes
7.6 A Prebiotic Model for the Coordinated Growth of Membrane Thickness and Transmembrane Peptides
7.7 A Model for the Coordinated Growth of Membrane Thickness and Transmembrane Peptides
7.8 RNA World with the Protein World
7.9 Conclusion
Acknowledgements
References
Part III: Physics Approaches
8. Patterns that Persist: Heritable Information in Stochastic Dynamics
Peter M. Tzelios and Kyle J. M. Bishop
8.1 Introduction
8.2 Markov Processes
8.2.1 Simple Examples of Markov Processes
8.2.2 Stochastic Dynamics
8.2.3 Master Equation
8.2.4 Dynamic Persistence
8.2.5 Coarse Graining
8.2.6 Entropy Production
8.3 Results
8.3.1 The Persistence Filter
8.4 Mechanisms of Persistence
8.5 Effects of Size N and Disequilibrium γ
8.6 Probability of Persistence
8.6.1 Continuity Constraint
8.6.2 Locality Constraint
8.6.3 New Strategies for Persistence
8.7 Measuring Persistence in Practice
8.7.1 Computable Information Density (CID)
8.7.2 Quantifying Persistence in Dynamic Assemblies of Colloidal Rollers
8.8 Conclusions
8.9 Methods
8.9.1 Coarse-Graining
8.10 Monte Carlo Optimization
8.11 Experiments on Ferromagnetic Rollers
8.12 A Persistence in Equilibrium Systems
Acknowledgements
References
9. When We Were Triangles: Shape in the Origin of Life via Abiotic, Shaped
Droplets to Living, Polygonal Archaea During the Abiocene
Richard Gordon
9.1 Introduction
9.1.1 What Correlates with Archaea Shape? Nothing!
9.1.2 Archaea’s Place in the Tree of Life
9.1.3 The Discovery and Exploration of Shaped Droplets
9.1.4 Shaped Droplets as Protocells
9.1.5 Comparison of Shaped Droplets with Archaea
9.1.6 The S-Layer
9.1.7 The S-Layer as a Two-Dimensional Liquid with Fault Lines
9.1.8 The Analogy of the S-Layer to Bubble Rafts
9.1.9 Energy Minimization Model for the S-Layer in Polygonal Archaea
9.2 Discussion
9.3 Conclusion
Acknowledgements
References
10. Challenges and Perspectives of Robot Inventors that Autonomously Design, Build, and Test Physical Robots
Fumiya Iida, Toby Howison, Simon Hauser and Josie Hughes
10.1 Introduction
10.2 Physical Evolutionary-Developmental Robotics
10.2.1 Robotic Invention
10.2.2 Physical Morphology Adaptation
10.3 Falling Paper Design Experiments
10.3.1 Design–Behavior Mapping
10.3.2 More Variations of Paper Falling Patterns
10.3.3 Characterizing Falling Paper Behaviors
10.4 Evolutionary Dynamics of Collective Bernoulli Balloons
10.5 Discussions and Conclusions
Acknowledgments
References
Part IV: The Approach of Creating Life 279
11. Synthetic Cells: A Route Toward Assembling Life
Antoni Llopis-Lorente, N. Amy Yewdall, Alexander F. Mason, Loai K. E. A. Abdelmohsen and Jan C. M. van Hest
11.1 Compartmentalization: Putting Life in a Box
11.2 The Making of Cell-Sized Giant Liposomes
11.3 Coacervate-Based Synthetic Cells
11.4 Adaptivity and Functionality in Synthetic Cells
11.5 Synthetic Cell Information Processing and Communication
11.6 Intracellular Information Processing: Making Decisions with All the Noise
11.7 Extracellular Communication: the Art of Talking and Selective Listening
11.8 Conclusions
Acknowledgments
References
12. Origin of Life from a Maker’s Perspective–Focus on Protocellular
Compartments in Bottom-Up Synthetic Biology
Ivan Ivanov, Stoyan K. Smoukov, Ehsan Nourafkan, Katharina Landfester and Petra Schwille
12.1 Introduction
12.2 Unifying the Plausible Protocells in Line with the Crowded Cell
12.3 Self-Sustained Cycles of Growth and Division
12.4 Transport and Energy Generation at the Interface
12.4.1 Energy and Complexity
12.4.2 Energy Compartmentation
12.5 Synergistic Effects Towards the Origin of Life
References
Part V: When and Where Did Life Start?
13. A Nuclear Geyser Origin of Life: Life Assembly Plant – Three-Step Model for the Emergence of the First Life on Earth and Cell Dynamics for the Coevolution of Life’s Functions
Shigenori Maruyama and Toshikazu Ebisuzaki
13.1 Introduction
13.2 Natural Nuclear Reactor
13.2.1 Principle of a Natural Nuclear Reactor
13.2.2 Natural Nuclear Reactor in Gabon
13.2.3 Radiation Chemistry to Produce Organics
13.2.4 Hadean Natural Nuclear Reactor
13.3 Nuclear Geyser Model as a Birthplace of Life on the Hadean Earth
13.4 Nine Requirements for the Birthplace of Life
13.5 Three-Step Model for the Emergence of the First Life on Hadean Earth
13.5.1 The Emergence of the First Proto-Life
13.5.1.1 Domain I: Inorganics
13.5.1.2 Domain II: From Inorganic to Organic
13.5.1.3 Domain III: Production of More Advanced BBL
13.5.1.4 Domain IV: Passage Connecting Geyser Main Room with the Surface and Fountain Flow
13.5.1.5 Domain V: Production of BBL in an Oxidizing Wet–Dry Surface Environment
13.5.1.6 Domain VI: Birthplace of the First Proto-Life
13.5.1.7 Utilization of Metallic Proteins
13.5.2 The Emergence of the Second Proto-Life
13.5.2.1 Drastic Environmental Change from Step 1 to Step 2
13.5.2.2 Biological Response from Step 1 to Step 2
13.5.3 The Emergence of the Third Proto-Life, Prokaryote
13.5.3.1 Drastic Environmental Changes from Step 2 to Step 3
13.5.3.2 Biological Response from Step 2 to Step 3
13.6 Concept of the Cell Dynamics: Life Assembly Plant
Acknowledgments
References
14. Comments on the Nuclear Geyser Origin of Life Proposal of the Authors S. Maruyama and T. Ebisuzaki and Interstellar Medium as a Possible Birthplace of Life
Jaroslav Jiřík
References
15. Nucleotide Photochemistry on the Early Earth
Whitaker, D. E., Colville, B.W.F. and Powner, M. W.
15.1 Introduction
15.2 Pyrimidine Photochemistry
15.2.1 Photohydrates
15.2.2 Photodimers
15.2.3 Glycosidic Bond Cleavage
15.2.4 Addition of Nucleophiles to C2
15.3 Purine Photochemistry
15.4 Photochemistry of Noncanonical Nucleosides
15.4.1 Photochemical Anomerization of Cytidine Nucleosides
15.4.2 Thiobase Irradiation Products
15.4.3 Photochemical Decarboxylation of Orotidine
15.4.4 Photochemical Synthesis of AICN, a Possible Synthetic Precursor to the Purines
15.5 Considering More Complex Photochemical Systems
15.6 Concluding Remarks
References
16. Origins of Life on Exoplanets
Paul B. Rimmer
16.1 Introduction
16.2 How to Test Origins Hypotheses
16.3 Exoplanets as Laboratories
16.4 The Scenario
16.5 Initial Conditions
16.5.1 Chemical Initial Conditions
16.5.1.1 Hydrogen Cyanide
16.5.1.2 Sulfite and Sulfide
16.5.2 Physical Initial Conditions
16.6 Chances of Success
16.7 Relevance of the Outcome
16.8 Conclusions
Acknowledgements
References
17. The Fish Ladder Toy Model for a Thermodynamically at Equilibrium Origin of Life in a Lipid World in an Endoreic Lake
Richard Gordon, Shruti Raj Vansh Singh, Krishna Katyal and Natalie K. Gordon
17.1 The Fish Ladder Model for the Origin of Life
17.2 Could the Late Heavy Bombardment have Supplied Enough Amphiphiles?
17.3 How Many Uphill Steps to LUCA?
17.4 How Long Would the Origin of Life Take After the CVC is Achieved?
17.5 Conclusion
Acknowledgements
Appendix (Discussion with David Deamer)
References
Index
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