title: The natural selection of the chemical elements.
abstract: Evolution is treated here in a novel way. DNA or any other code is considered to be conservative and therefore, once life began, it would prevent change. Change was imposed upon the DNA code as a stress resulting in vulnerability to "advantageous" DNA damage and mutation. In this respect it is the stress, the changing environment, that opened up a possibility of evolution once an early life form had optimised itself in primitive circumstances. Here I examine the initial slow-coming-to-terms with the environment of primitive life, and then its evolution as the environment forced the DNA into novel development by introducing chemical elements in new forms. The situation today is no different. Environmental change is hostile to present day life and will lead to further evolution.
authors.affiliation: Inorganic Chemistry Laboratory, University of Oxford, UK. sharon.swift@icl.ox.ac.uk
authors.forename: R J
authors.initials: RJ
authors.lastname: Williams
mesh_terms: D005075:Biological Evolution; D002384:Catalysis; D004247:DNA / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics; D017753:Ecosystem; D004602:Elements; D004734:Energy Metabolism; D005057:Eukaryotic Cells / Q000502:physiology; D019418:Evolution, Chemical; D005815:Genetic Code; D010100:Oxygen / Q000378:metabolism; D011387:Prokaryotic Cells / Q000502:physiology; D011506:Proteins / Q000737:chemistry / Q000378:metabolism; D013816:Thermodynamics
chemical_list: D004602:Elements; D011506:Proteins; D004247:DNA; D010100:Oxygen