NDLI: The Origin of Life: Models and Data

Content Provider	Springer Nature Link
Author	Lanier, Kathryn A. Williams, Loren Dean
Copyright Year	2017
Abstract	A general framework for conventional models of the origin of life (OOL) is the specification of a ‘privileged function.’ A privileged function is an extant biological function that is excised from its biological context, elevated in importance over other functions, and transported back in time to a primitive chemical or geological environment. In RNA or Clay Worlds, the privileged function is replication. In Metabolism-First Worlds, the privileged function is metabolism. In Thermal Vent Worlds, the privileged function is energy harvesting from chemical gradients. In Membrane Worlds, the privileged function is compartmentalization. In evaluating these models, we consider the contents and properties of the Universal Gene Set of life, which is the set of orthologous genes conserved throughout the tree of life and found in every living system. We also consider the components and properties of the Molecular Toolbox of Life, which contains twenty amino acids, eight nucleotides, glucose, polypeptide, polynucleotide, and several other components. OOL models based on privileged functions necessarily depend on “takeovers” to transition from previous genetic and catalytic systems to the extant DNA/RNA/protein system, requiring replacement of one Molecular Toolbox with another and of one Universal Gene Set with another. The observed robustness and contents of the Toolbox of Life and the Universal Gene Set over the last 3.7 billion years are thought to be post hoc phenomena. Once the takeover processes are acknowledged and are reasonably considered, the privileged function models are seen to be extremely complex with low predictive power. These models require indeterminacy and plasticity of biological and chemical processes.
Starting Page	85
Ending Page	92
Page Count	8
File Format	PDF
ISSN	00222844
Journal	Journal of Molecular Evolution
Volume Number	84
Issue Number	2-3
e-ISSN	14321432
Language	English
Publisher	Springer US
Publisher Date	2017-02-27
Publisher Place	New York
Access Restriction	One Nation One Subscription (ONOS)
Subject Keyword	Origins of life Molecular toolbox of Life Translation RNA world Metabolism world Clay world Thermal vent world Membrane world Evolutionary Biology Microbiology Plant Sciences Plant Genetics & Genomics Animal Genetics and Genomics Cell Biology
Content Type	Text
Resource Type	Article
Subject	Genetics Molecular Biology Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics

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