Bit by Bit: The Darwinian Basis of Life

Gerald F Joyce ()

Working Papers from eSocialSciences

Abstract: All known examples of life belong to the same biology, but there is increasing enthusiasm among astronomers, astrobiologists, and synthetic biologists that other forms of life may soon be discovered or synthesized. This enthusiasm should be tempered by the fact that the probability for life to originate is not known. As a guiding principle in parsing potential examples of alternative life, one should ask: How many heritable “bits†of information are involved, and where did they come from? A genetic system that contains more bits than the number that were required to initiate its operation might reasonably be considered a new form of life. [Plos Biology]. URL:[http://www.plosbiology.org/article/info%3Adoi%2F10.1371%2Fjournal.pbio.1001323].

Keywords: Darwinian Basis; life; astronomers; astrobiologists; and synthetic biologists; computer; parsing potential examples; chemical equilibrium; planet; Bayesian; Biological systems; self-reproduction; molecular memory; bacteria; Phylogenetic tree; biology; chemical environment; RNAs (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2012-07
Note: Institutional Papers
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