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

Kepa Ruiz Mirazo, Álvaro Julián Moreno Bergareche

• 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.