The transition from non-life to life is one of the most fascinating but challenging issues in contemporary science. It is clear that all the current biodiversity is the outcome of Darwinian evolution from a primitive cellular species, the so-called last universal common ancestor (LUCA). A NASA panel even defined life as a “self-sustaining chemical system capable of Darwinian evolution”. The findings of modern biology have fully validated those principles, but show no illumination of the onset of Darwinian evolution. The design of replicator systems that can evolve will advance our understanding of the chemical roots of Darwinian evolution and its origin, and pave the way for de novo synthesis of life.
Direct kinetic or thermodynamic selection can be imposed on some synthetic replicators, where the selection targets are physicochemical properties rather than “encoded” functions like in biological evolution. To make the selection coherent with the Darwin framework, functions should be coupled to mutations to enable selection of functional advantage. An organizational logic of an ensemble of higher-order processes (e.g. through a compartment) is required to keep the replicator together with its corresponding functional components for retaining the metabolites for the benefit of the replicator that produced them.
Systems chemistry dealing with intricate combinations of molecules (e.g. via reaction networks, self-assembly, and self-organization) at once will help address many of the challenges in evolutionary chemistry, leading to the emergence of evolutionary systems chemistry. The objectives of the project are to functionalize replicators by integrating metabolism and build up a self-maintaining chemical replicator systems capable of Darwin evolution and adaption.
