Question 1: origin of life and the living state.
The aim of this article is to discuss four topics: First, the origin of molecular reproduction. Second, the origin of agency - the capacity of a system to act on its own behalf. Agency is a stunning feature of human and some wider range of life. Third, to discuss a still poorly articulated feature of life noticed by the philosopher Immanuel Kant over 200 years ago: A self propagating organization of process. We have no theory for this aspect of life, yet it is central to life. Fourth, I will discuss constraints, as in Schroedinger's aperiodic crystal (Schroedinger E, What is life? The physical aspect of the living cell, 1944), as information, part of the total non-equilibrium union of matter, energy, work, work cycles, constraints, and information that appear to comprise the living state.
Kauffman
Stuart
S
Institute for Biocomplexity and Informatics, University of Calgary, Calgary, Canada. skauffman@ucalgary.ca
D019143:Evolution, Molecular; D006801:Humans; D019369:Life; D008962:Models, Theoretical; D000069497:Origin of Life; D012313:RNA / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism
D012313:RNA