Autocatalysis, information and coding.
Autocatalytic self-construction in macromolecular systems requires the existence of a reflexive relationship between structural components and the functional operations they perform to synthesise themselves. The possibility of reflexivity depends on formal, semiotic features of the catalytic structure-function relationship, that is, the embedding of catalytic functions in the space of polymeric structures. Reflexivity is a semiotic property of some genetic sequences. Such sequences may serve as the basis for the evolution of coding as a result of autocatalytic self-organisation in a population of assignment catalysts. Autocatalytic selection is a mechanism whereby matter becomes differentiated in primitive biochemical systems. In the case of coding self-organisation, it corresponds to the creation of symbolic information. Prions are present-day entities whose replication through autocatalysis reflects aspects of biological semiotics less obvious than genetic coding.
Wills
P R
PR
Department of Physics, University of Auckland, Private Bag 92019, Auckland, New Zealand. p.wills@auckland.ac.nz
D005075:Biological Evolution; D055592:Biophysical Phenomena; D001703:Biophysics; D002384:Catalysis; D005815:Genetic Code; D046911:Macromolecular Substances; D000069497:Origin of Life
D046911:Macromolecular Substances