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There is an interesting theory that a gradual process of increasing complexity of autocatalytic processes might be more probable to lead to something like life
by _Microft 7y ago
There is an interesting theory that a gradual process of increasing complexity of autocatalytic processes might be more probable to lead to something like life than a sudden abiogenesis event and that there might have been no single event that could be called the beginning of life.
Here is an (accessible?) article on it:
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3843823/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3843823/
One of the authors (Addy Pross) even wrote a book called What is Life - How Chemistry becomes Biology about this idea (https://www.amazon.de/What-Life-Chemistry-Becomes-Landmark/dp/0198784791/ https://www.amazon.de/What-Life-Chemistry-Becomes-Landmark/d... ). There's a review of the book at this link [PDF]: https://www.pagepress.org/journals/index.php/eb/article/viewFile/eb.2013.br1/3833 https://www.pagepress.org/journals/index.php/eb/article/view...
- jcims 7y agoWill check those out, thank you. I can't fathom the odds of a sudden abiogenesis event. If that truly is the source, this can't have been the first cycle of the universe and we are almost certainly the only germline that exists. It would have to be an undisturbed progression of natural reactions that culminate in what we know as life. It likewise seems very unlikely, but if that happens life is probably all over the universe and still looks a lot like us.