Evolution at the Origins of Life?
The role of evolutionary theory at the origin of life is an extensively debated topic. The origin and early development of life is usually separated into a prebiotic phase and a protocellular phase, ultimately leading to the Last Universal Common Ancestor. Most likely, the Last Universal Common Ance...
| Main Authors: | , , |
|---|---|
| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
MDPI AG
2024-01-01
|
| Series: | Life |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2075-1729/14/2/175 |
| _version_ | 1797297708544819200 |
|---|---|
| author | Ludo L. J. Schoenmakers Thomas A. C. Reydon Andreas Kirschning |
| author_facet | Ludo L. J. Schoenmakers Thomas A. C. Reydon Andreas Kirschning |
| author_sort | Ludo L. J. Schoenmakers |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | The role of evolutionary theory at the origin of life is an extensively debated topic. The origin and early development of life is usually separated into a prebiotic phase and a protocellular phase, ultimately leading to the Last Universal Common Ancestor. Most likely, the Last Universal Common Ancestor was subject to Darwinian evolution, but the question remains to what extent Darwinian evolution applies to the prebiotic and protocellular phases. In this review, we reflect on the current status of evolutionary theory in origins of life research by bringing together philosophy of science, evolutionary biology, and empirical research in the origins field. We explore the various ways in which evolutionary theory has been extended beyond biology; we look at how these extensions apply to the prebiotic development of (proto)metabolism; and we investigate how the terminology from evolutionary theory is currently being employed in state-of-the-art origins of life research. In doing so, we identify some of the current obstacles to an evolutionary account of the origins of life, as well as open up new avenues of research. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-07T22:25:16Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-f5972e75374445179a47c39357d4cdd7 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2075-1729 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-07T22:25:16Z |
| publishDate | 2024-01-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Life |
| spelling | doaj.art-f5972e75374445179a47c39357d4cdd72024-02-23T15:24:32ZengMDPI AGLife2075-17292024-01-0114217510.3390/life14020175Evolution at the Origins of Life?Ludo L. J. Schoenmakers0Thomas A. C. Reydon1Andreas Kirschning2Konrad Lorenz Institute for Evolution and Cognition Research (KLI), 3400 Klosterneuburg, AustriaInstitute of Philosophy, Centre for Ethics and Law in the Life Sciences (CELLS), Leibniz University Hannover, 30159 Hannover, GermanyInstitute of Organic Chemistry, Leibniz University Hannover, 30167 Hannover, GermanyThe role of evolutionary theory at the origin of life is an extensively debated topic. The origin and early development of life is usually separated into a prebiotic phase and a protocellular phase, ultimately leading to the Last Universal Common Ancestor. Most likely, the Last Universal Common Ancestor was subject to Darwinian evolution, but the question remains to what extent Darwinian evolution applies to the prebiotic and protocellular phases. In this review, we reflect on the current status of evolutionary theory in origins of life research by bringing together philosophy of science, evolutionary biology, and empirical research in the origins field. We explore the various ways in which evolutionary theory has been extended beyond biology; we look at how these extensions apply to the prebiotic development of (proto)metabolism; and we investigate how the terminology from evolutionary theory is currently being employed in state-of-the-art origins of life research. In doing so, we identify some of the current obstacles to an evolutionary account of the origins of life, as well as open up new avenues of research.https://www.mdpi.com/2075-1729/14/2/175origins of lifeevolutionary theorygeneralizationreductionchemical evolutionmetabolic networks |
| spellingShingle | Ludo L. J. Schoenmakers Thomas A. C. Reydon Andreas Kirschning Evolution at the Origins of Life? Life origins of life evolutionary theory generalization reduction chemical evolution metabolic networks |
| title | Evolution at the Origins of Life? |
| title_full | Evolution at the Origins of Life? |
| title_fullStr | Evolution at the Origins of Life? |
| title_full_unstemmed | Evolution at the Origins of Life? |
| title_short | Evolution at the Origins of Life? |
| title_sort | evolution at the origins of life |
| topic | origins of life evolutionary theory generalization reduction chemical evolution metabolic networks |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2075-1729/14/2/175 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT ludoljschoenmakers evolutionattheoriginsoflife AT thomasacreydon evolutionattheoriginsoflife AT andreaskirschning evolutionattheoriginsoflife |