Chemical Evolution Reimagined

28 June 2022, Version 2
This content is a preprint and has not undergone peer review at the time of posting.

Abstract

Some of the most interesting open questions about the origins of life and molecular sciences center on chemical evolution and the spontaneous generation of new complex and functional chemical species. The spectacular polymers that underlay biology demonstrate an untapped, by modern science, creative potential. We hypothesized that prebiotic chemical evolutionary processes leading to biopolymers were not idiosyncratic one-off events. We have developed an experimental platform that accomplishes chemical evolution in the laboratory. In this paper we describe this platform and report empirical outcomes, some of which were not foreseen. We have constructed experimental platform to study evolution of chemical systems that: (i) undergo continuous recursive change with transitions to new chemical spaces while not converging, (ii) demonstrate stringent chemical selection, during which combinatorial explosion is avoided, (iii) maintain synchronicity of molecular sub-populations, and (iv) harvest environmental energy that is invested in chemical reactions. We have established general guidelines for conducting chemical evolution. Our results suggest that chemical evolution can be adapted to produce a broad array of molecules with novel structures and functions.

Keywords

Chemical Evolution
Molecular Evolution
Wet-Dry Cycling
Condensation Dehydration
Dynamic Combinatorial Chemistry

Supplementary materials

Title
Description
Actions
Title
Supplementary material
Description
Supplementary material
Actions

Comments

Comments are not moderated before they are posted, but they can be removed by the site moderators if they are found to be in contravention of our Commenting Policy [opens in a new tab] - please read this policy before you post. Comments should be used for scholarly discussion of the content in question. You can find more information about how to use the commenting feature here [opens in a new tab] .
This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy [opens in a new tab] and Terms of Service [opens in a new tab] apply.