Chemical Evolution and the Evolutionary Definition of Life.

Abstract excerpt

Darwinian evolution requires a mechanism for generation of diversity in a population, and selective differences between individuals that influence reproduction. In biology, diversity is generated by mutations and selective differences arise because of the encoded functions of the sequences (e.g., ribozymes or proteins). Here, I draw attention to a process that I will call chemical evolution, in which the...

Topics

• Biological Evolution
• DNA Replication
• Evolution, Chemical
• Mutation
• Oligonucleotides
• Origin of Life
• Polymerization
• RNA
• RNA, Catalytic