Reflections on the origin of life: more than an 'evolutionary' problem

• Autores: Kepa Ruiz Mirazo, Álvaro Julián Moreno Bergareche
• Localización: Mètode Science Studies Journal: Annual Review, ISSN 2174-3487, ISSN-e 2174-9221, Nº. 6, 2016 (Ejemplar dedicado a: Science grid. The public understanding of science), págs. 150-159
• Idioma: inglés
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• Resumen

  • This paper argues that the question of the origin of life cannot be explained by appealing exclusively to Darwinian evolutionary mechanisms, as many experts tend to assume, but requires a profound change in perspective. Accordingly, we highlight the fact that, in order to operate as a diversification force (and indirectly, a force for a potential increase in complexity), natural selection requires a number of conditions to be met in order for it to be possible: specifically, self-sustained and self-(re-)productive chemical organisation within a sufficiently large phenotypic space (that is, a wide range of functions). Therefore, we suggest an extension of the «self-organising» paradigm towards a «self-(re-)productive» one as an alternative to the main proposals regarding the origin of life, based on molecular populations (typically RNA) subject to Darwinian evolution. Such a paradigm would adequately portray the specificity of the biological phenomenon (particularly, its metabolic and cellular dimension) and would be relevant before, during, and after natural selection started to operate.