A computer-glimpse of the origin of life

Abstract

Evolution is assumed to begin in a very particular compartmentalized location with periodic conditions. A highly diversified world is the driving force for the continuous increase in complexity by colonizing increasingly less favourable regions. Modeling the "origin-of-life" a Darwinian cyclic process is simulated (multiplication with sporadic errors followed by a construction and selection). Starting from a RNA-world (R-strands of R 1 and R2 monomers building Hairpin-Assembler devices) and introducing another kind of monomers (A1 and A2 which interlink to the Hairpin-Assembler devices such that they become bound and form an A-oligomer) it is shown that a simple translation apparatus evolves producing enzymes (specific sequences of A1 and A2 monomers given by the sequences of R1 and R2 monomers on the assembler-strands). Later on D-strands are introduced, which are not capable of participating in the synthesis of A-oligomers. These D-strands become carriers of the genetic information and induce the formation of increasingly complex entities of functionally interplaying components. © Springer 2005.