Question 9: minority control and genetic takeover.
As an issue of constructive biology, we study how molecules carrying heredity appear in a reproduction system that consists of mutually catalytic reactions. Molecules that are minority in number are shown to be preserved over generations, and control the behavior of the system. Life-critical information is then expected to be packed into such molecules and transferred over generations, leading to kinetic origin of genetic information. Relevance of this minority control to genetic takeover from loose reproduction is discussed, as a general consequence of any reproducing system with evolvability. Appropriate cell size to achieve both for reproduction and evolvability is also estimated based on this minority control mechanism.
Kaneko
Kunihiko
K
Department of Pure and Applied Sciences, University of Tokyo, 3-8-1 Komaba, Meguro, Tokyo 153-8902, Japan. kaneko@complex.c.u-tokyo.ac.jp
D019418:Evolution, Chemical; D019369:Life; D008962:Models, Theoretical