So far, we have had a look at the main scenarios about OoL, and we have also looked into the fascinating world of self-organization phenomena, paying particular attention to the spontaneous emergence of cell-like structures (protocells) and to the properties of particular sets of chemical molecules which are collectively able to self-replicate (replicators (We also used the term autocatalytic sets, which is appropriate when all the relevant reactions are catalyzed. The generic term replicators encompasses both autocatalytic sets and those cases where (at least) some reactions are not catalyzed. RAFs can be regarded as a subset of autocatalytic sets)). We have also observed that the growth of a population of protocells may be sustainable, due to a widespread property, namely the emergent synchronization of the growth rates of their lipid containers and of their sets of replicators. This property has been observed under a broad set of conditions in quite plausible dynamical models, while it still waits for an experimental verification, since systems of protocells able to undergo repeated fissions have not yet been obtained in the lab. We will comment in Chap. 10 about possible reasons why this is the case but, as long as this condition persists, it is necessary to resort to models to address some key questions. Therefore, in this chapter we will continue to explore what models can suggest about the dynamical behavior of protocell populations, and about the processes which might take place.

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Polymers in Protocells

  • Roberto Serra,
  • Marco Villani

摘要

So far, we have had a look at the main scenarios about OoL, and we have also looked into the fascinating world of self-organization phenomena, paying particular attention to the spontaneous emergence of cell-like structures (protocells) and to the properties of particular sets of chemical molecules which are collectively able to self-replicate (replicators (We also used the term autocatalytic sets, which is appropriate when all the relevant reactions are catalyzed. The generic term replicators encompasses both autocatalytic sets and those cases where (at least) some reactions are not catalyzed. RAFs can be regarded as a subset of autocatalytic sets)). We have also observed that the growth of a population of protocells may be sustainable, due to a widespread property, namely the emergent synchronization of the growth rates of their lipid containers and of their sets of replicators. This property has been observed under a broad set of conditions in quite plausible dynamical models, while it still waits for an experimental verification, since systems of protocells able to undergo repeated fissions have not yet been obtained in the lab. We will comment in Chap. 10 about possible reasons why this is the case but, as long as this condition persists, it is necessary to resort to models to address some key questions. Therefore, in this chapter we will continue to explore what models can suggest about the dynamical behavior of protocell populations, and about the processes which might take place.