Is There Life in the Cosmos? New Observations and Experiments

This article examines the potential for detecting early forms of life on exoplanets by identifying small molecule collectively autocatalytic sets. It highlights recent advancements in high-diversity small molecule libraries and the feasibility of testing whether such sets can emerge and evolve into more complex biological systems, including prokaryotes and multicellular life.


This content originally appeared on HackerNoon and was authored by Homology

:::info Authors:

(1) STUART KAUFFMAN;

(2) ANDREA ROL.

:::

Abstract and Introduction

Part I. A Definition of Life

Part II. The first Miracle: The emergence of life is an expected phase transition – TAP and RAF.

Part III. The Second Miracle: The evolution of the biosphere is a propagating, non-deducible construction, not an entailed deduction. There is no Law. Evolution is ever-creative

Part IV. New Observations and Experiments: Is There Life in the Cosmos?

Conclusion and Acknowledgments

Figures and References

Part IV. New Observations and Experiments: Is There Life in the Cosmos?

i. We are discovering ever more exoplanets, (49,50). We seek evidence of life in the atmospheres of these planets, (50). The results discussed here suggest a potent new hope. If we establish that the small molecule collectively autocatalytic sets in all 6700 prokaryotes do reproduce chemically in vitro, we can then seek evidence in the atmospheres of exoplanets of just such small molecule collectively autocatalytic sets. These sets are plausibly the most rudimentary form of life in the universe. Given an identified set of small molecules in an atmosphere, it is calculation to test if that set can function as a small molecule collectively autocatalytic set, as done by Xavier, (11,12). If Yes, we may be seeing life.

\ ii. It is now feasible to create high diversity small molecule libraries. For example, work by Ott running the Miller Urey experiment starting with only four molecular species for a month yields thousands of small molecules, identified by mass spectrometry, (51). We can now ask if in such systems, small molecule collectively autocatalytic sets can emerge. This is a “Go or No Go” experiment. If No, the theory is probably wrong.

\ iii. If Yes, we can begin to envision testable pathways beyond small molecule collectively autocatalytic sets to such sets becoming the metabolism of peptide RNA autocatalytic sets with which they co-evolve as new Kantian Wholes. In turn these might evolve to template replication, and even to genetic coding, (52,53,54). Real experiments are needed.

\ iv. We begin to envision testable pathways from the earliest small molecule Kantian Wholes to the emergence of prokaryotes. From these to the eukaryote may be a long step, but multicellularity arose six or more times. Is the emergence of complex life so very improbable? We do not know. Perhaps not.

\

:::info This paper is available on arxiv under CC BY 4.0 DEED license.

:::

\


This content originally appeared on HackerNoon and was authored by Homology


Print Share Comment Cite Upload Translate Updates
APA

Homology | Sciencx (2024-08-18T20:57:30+00:00) Is There Life in the Cosmos? New Observations and Experiments. Retrieved from https://www.scien.cx/2024/08/18/is-there-life-in-the-cosmos-new-observations-and-experiments/

MLA
" » Is There Life in the Cosmos? New Observations and Experiments." Homology | Sciencx - Sunday August 18, 2024, https://www.scien.cx/2024/08/18/is-there-life-in-the-cosmos-new-observations-and-experiments/
HARVARD
Homology | Sciencx Sunday August 18, 2024 » Is There Life in the Cosmos? New Observations and Experiments., viewed ,<https://www.scien.cx/2024/08/18/is-there-life-in-the-cosmos-new-observations-and-experiments/>
VANCOUVER
Homology | Sciencx - » Is There Life in the Cosmos? New Observations and Experiments. [Internet]. [Accessed ]. Available from: https://www.scien.cx/2024/08/18/is-there-life-in-the-cosmos-new-observations-and-experiments/
CHICAGO
" » Is There Life in the Cosmos? New Observations and Experiments." Homology | Sciencx - Accessed . https://www.scien.cx/2024/08/18/is-there-life-in-the-cosmos-new-observations-and-experiments/
IEEE
" » Is There Life in the Cosmos? New Observations and Experiments." Homology | Sciencx [Online]. Available: https://www.scien.cx/2024/08/18/is-there-life-in-the-cosmos-new-observations-and-experiments/. [Accessed: ]
rf:citation
» Is There Life in the Cosmos? New Observations and Experiments | Homology | Sciencx | https://www.scien.cx/2024/08/18/is-there-life-in-the-cosmos-new-observations-and-experiments/ |

Please log in to upload a file.




There are no updates yet.
Click the Upload button above to add an update.

You must be logged in to translate posts. Please log in or register.