2020/07/20 by Stuart Kauffman, Kauffman, Stuart, Mike Steel +1
Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology · Physics and Astronomy · #62M20 #92C42 #FOS: Biological sciences #Gene Regulatory Network Analysis #Molecular Networks (q-bio.MN) #Origins and Evolution of Life #Protein Structure and Dynamics
paper · pdf · doi:10.48550/arxiv.2007.10518
openalex publication_date 2020/07/20 · openalex created_date 2022/07/26 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/28
The emergence of self-sustaining autocatalytic networks in chemical reaction\nsystems has been studied as a possible mechanism for modelling how living\nsystems first arose. It has been known for several decades that such networks\nwill form within systems of polymers (under cleavage and ligation reactions)\nunder a simple process of random catalysis, and this process has since been\nmathematically analysed. In this paper, we provide an exact expression for the\nexpected number of self-sustaining autocatalytic networks that will form in a\ngeneral chemical reaction system, and the expected number of these networks\nthat will also be uninhibited (by some molecule produced by the system). Using\nthese equations, we are able to describe the patterns of catalysis and\ninhibition that maximise or minimise the expected number of such networks. We\napply our results to derive a general theorem concerning the trade-off between\ncatalysis and inhibition, and to provide some insight into the extent to which\nthe expected number of self-sustaining autocatalytic networks coincides with\nthe probability that at least one such system is present.\n