%0 Journal Article
%T Is the transition from chemistry to biology a mystery?
%A Hans Kuhn
%J Journal of Systems Chemistry
%D 2010
%I BioMed Central
%R 10.1186/1759-2208-1-3
%X The early assumption, that life's emergence is related to the second law of thermodynamics, has its case as follows. Eugene Wigner [1] believed to have demonstrated that the origin of life is in contradiction to the second law. Ilya Prigogine and Peter Glansdorff [2] showed that a homogeneous system in a steady state far from equilibrium is unstable and in Manfred Eigen's view [3] this fact is an essential thermodynamic principle in understanding the origin of life bridging the gap between chemistry and biology. Today it is broadly assumed that "the central issue regarding the very essence of living systems remains unresolved" (Addy Pross [4]). "The center is still mysterious" (Stuart Kauffman [5]). "Most chemists believe, as I do, that life emerged spontaneously from a mixture of molecules in a pre-biotic Earth. How? I have no idea" (George Whitesides [6]) and "We must seek out principles that would explain the transformation of inanimate and animate. And it is on this most fundamental of issues that confusion and controversy stubbornly remain." (G¨¹nter W£¿chtersh£¿user [7])This paper is based on another early assumption: life originates as a sequence of distinct chemical reactions. Chemical reactions, per se, are in agreement with thermodynamics. Finding a rational approach to understand life's origin is searching for a sequence of chemical reactions that lead to first-life-like entities, thus entities with early-life-like genetic apparatus. It is a particular process consisting of an immense number of causally interlocked steps. This process has been theoretically modeled by strongly simplifying what might be the actual process ([8] and later developed [9-18]). No unbridged gap appeared. The resulting genetic apparatus has the principle structure and the fundamental properties of life's genetic apparatus. In particular, the theoretically modeled entities have the power of evolving toward ever increasing complexity and intricacy if appropriate conditions are given.
%U http://www.jsystchem.com/content/1/1/3