Mathematical modeling reveals spontaneous emergence of self-replication in chemical reaction systems

Liu, Y. and Sumpter, D. J.T. (2018) Mathematical modeling reveals spontaneous emergence of self-replication in chemical reaction systems. Journal of Biological Chemistry, 293(49), pp. 18854-18863. (doi: 10.1074/jbc.ra118.003795) (PMID:30282809) (PMCID:PMC6295724)

Abstract

Explaining the origin of life requires us to elucidate how self-replication arises. To be specific, how can a self-replicating entity develop spontaneously from a chemical reaction system in which no reaction is self-replicating? Previously proposed mathematical models either supply an explicit framework for a minimal living system or consider only catalyzed reactions, and thus fail to provide a comprehensive theory. Here, we set up a general mathematical model for chemical reaction systems that properly accounts for energetics, kinetics, and the conservation law. We found that 1) some systems are collectively catalytic, a mode whereby reactants are transformed into end products with the assistance of intermediates (as in the citric acid cycle), whereas some others are self-replicating, that is, different parts replicate each other and the system self-replicates as a whole (as in the formose reaction, in which sugar is replicated from formaldehyde); 2) side reactions do not always inhibit such systems; 3) randomly chosen chemical universes (namely random artificial chemistries) often contain one or more such systems; 4) it is possible to construct a self-replicating system in which the entropy of some parts spontaneously decreases, in a manner similar to that discussed by Schrödinger; and 5) complex self-replicating molecules can emerge spontaneously and relatively easily from simple chemical reaction systems through a sequence of transitions. Together, these results start to explain the origins of prebiotic evolution.

• Item Type: Articles
• Status: Published
• Refereed: Yes
• Glasgow Author(s) Enlighten ID: Liu, Dr Yu

Creator Roles

Liu, Y.: Conceptualization, Software, Formal analysis, Supervision, Funding acquisition, Validation, Investigation, Visualization, Methodology, Writing – original draft, Project administration, Writing – review and editing

• Authors: Liu, Y., and Sumpter, D. J.T.
• College/School: College of Science and Engineering > School of Chemistry
• Journal Name: Journal of Biological Chemistry
• Publisher: American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Inc.
• ISSN: 0021-9258
• ISSN (Online): 1083-351X
• Published Online: 03 October 2018
• Copyright Holders: Copyright © 2018 Liu and Sumpter
• First Published: First published in Journal of Biological Chemistry 293(49): 18854-18863
• Publisher Policy: Reproduced under a Creative Commons License