Origins of Life
Introduction
I am conducting personal research on the origin of life from the perspective of a systems engineer.
In system development, knowledge of computer science and systems engineering is used to organize the structure of the system itself to be developed.
In addition, system engineers are required to design and plan not only the target system to be developed, but also the development tools used to develop the system, and the organization and process for development. is required.
When living things are viewed as systems, research into the origin of life involves understanding the mechanism of living systems, as well as considering the surrounding environment and processes that create those systems. .
Here lies the similarity between system development and research into the origin of life. I believe that by having systems engineers who are not experts in biology or chemistry work on research into the origin of life, we can gain knowledge and insight from a new perspective.
Earth as a chemical factory
The earth has a complex system for synthesizing chemical substances. This is because a variety of chemicals are produced in many lakes and ponds, and the chemicals mix as the water circulates. This leads to the hypothesis that chemical evolution progressed using the entire Earth.
The following article summarizes this idea and mentions the possibility that ponds and lakes functioned like a single cell. If this is the case, viruses that parasitize and multiply in cells may have been able to grow in lakes and ponds even before the birth of life.
Origin of Life Roadmap: The Chemical Factory Network Hypothesis and Viruses
Feedback loop of influence
Earth's water cycle includes not only river flow but also cloud formation due to evaporation and rainfall. Chemicals flowing down rivers are carried back to land by updrafts and cloud currents, creating a cycle.
As various chemical substances ride the flow of this cycle and new chemical substances are created by the catalytic effect of the chemical substances, the chemical substances influence each other to promote increase and evolution. A feedback loop will be formed.
As this feedback loop becomes more sophisticated, chemical substances will eventually increase and evolve independently without using the earth's water cycle. The following article summarizes the idea that this may be the original form of life.
Unraveling the Origin of Life through the Loop-Centric Model and Systems Engineering
I have written several articles focusing on feedback loops, from the perspective that this is the key to the origin of life.
The Role of Currency in the Effects Loop
Spinning the Thread of Effect: Understanding Evolving Systems
Research on Effect Models: Exploring Life and Intelligence
Origins of Life: Reproduction Without Information and The Earth as a Effect System Infrastructure
Evolution of polymers
The chemical substances that are important in the chemical evolution at the origin of life are the nucleic acids of DNA and RNA, and proteins. DNA and RNA are responsible for the replication and transmission of genetic information, and proteins control the internal state of living organisms as enzymes and structures.
These are all polymers that are made up of chains of chemicals that form simple parts. The longer this polymer is, the more complex and genetic information it can handle and the more sophisticated chemical changes that sustain life can occur.
For this reason, in the origin of life, the key question is how these polymers acquired diversity, remained highly useful, and increased their length. It becomes.
In the following article, I will consider a model that explains the evolution of polymers and the conditions for evolution using feedback loops and stochastic effects.
Construction and Degradation Probability: In order to extend a polymer
Self maintenance system
If we think of living things as systems, we need to protect them from the outside world and maintain them against deterioration and destruction.
These defense mechanisms and self maintenance mechanisms must have evolved during the process of chemical evolution before the birth of living things. In the following article, I will consider the origin of life from this perspective as well.
Operational Continuity of Life Systems: A Bundle of Feedback Loops
Evolution of structure, function, and property
The general idea is that the chemical substances that make up living organisms evolve at the origin of life, but this can also be seen from the aspects of physical structures such as cell membranes and cytoskeleton.
In addition, as chemical substances and physical structures evolve, the functions and properties of those substances and structures will also evolve. In the following article, I will look at chemical evolution from a different angle from the evolution of chemical substances.
Resonance of Structural Evolution and Chemical Evolution in the Origins of Life
Evolution of Mechanisms in the Origins of Life
Evolutionary Theory of Properties: The Cyclical Structure in Density, Structure, and Properties
Riddle of Life & Given Energy
If you think of living things as systems made up of chemical substances and think about the origin of life, you will notice something strange.
If the system is to evolve, it would be advantageous to go into a dormant state when the supply of energy or resources stops, and then be able to start up when energy is supplied again. Masu.
However, living organisms are systems that die if they stop supplied energy and resources for a certain period of time, and cannot be restarted even if energy and resources are supplied again.
There is a mystery as to why in the natural world, mechanisms that move even when stopped do not evolve, while mechanisms that die when stopped evolve and become living things. there is. The following article examines this mystery, calling it the Riddle of Life.
Riddle of Life: Why do cells die? (In Japanese article.)
Life activities require energy for metabolism, growth, and movement. However, if we consider the physical structure of living organisms' bodies, there is another perspective on the relationship between living things and energy.
The cell membranes and cytoskeleton that support the structure of living organisms' bodies are not simply made up of materials, but are placed in position by applying tension or pressure to flexible springs or rubber-like materials. It is built to store energy.
For this reason, it is not possible to create the same shape by disassembling and reassembling, and it has to be grown from within. The following article analyzes this property.
How to Create a Pre-Compressed Spring: Life as Pre-given Energy
Runtime Expansion from Internal: Principles of Growth and Proliferation
Party hypothesis
When investigating the origin of life, a microscopic approach that focuses on individual chemical substances and functions is common. On the other hand, I believe that if we consider it as a complex system, we need a macroscopic approach that considers the properties of the whole.
One of the ways to do this is to focus on how organisms repeat active and inactive states at various levels and cycles, and to understand what this means in the process of chemical evolution. thinking about.
In the following article, I liken this cycle of active and inactive states to a party, and propose the party hypothesis, which posits that it played a major role in the birth of life.