Materials for the onset. A story of necessity and chance.

Raffaele Saladino (1) , Giorgia Botta (1) , Samanta Pino (2) , Giovanna Costanzo (3) , Ernesto Di Mauro (4)

1 Università degli studi della Tuscia [Viterbo]
2 UNIROMA - Università degli Studi di Roma "La Sapienza" = Sapienza University [Rome]
3 Istituto di Biologia e Patologia Molecolari - CNR [Roma, Italy]
4 Institut Pasteur, Fondation Cenci Bolognetti - Istituto Pasteur Italia, Fondazione Cenci Bolognetti

We review the reactions that take place in the HCN/NH2COH/catalysts system. In a vision of origin-of-life as emergence of new properties in complexity, the effectiveness of HCN/NH2COH chemistry is so robust and variegate to look unreasonable. In a logic close to Occamian simplicity, this chemistry embodies necessity. The evolution of the necessary fruits of this chemistry towards organismic level entails Darwinism. The role of chance enters into the process as an answer to evolving environments.

Keywords: Review; RNA; Metabolism; Origin Of Coordinated Reactions; Formamide; Non-definition of life

Domains: Life Sciences [q-bio]

Raffaele Saladino, Giorgia Botta, Samanta Pino, Giovanna Costanzo, Ernesto Di Mauro. Materials for the onset. A story of necessity and chance.. Frontiers in Bioscience, 2013, 18, pp.1275-1289. ⟨10.2741/4179⟩. ⟨pasteur-01053832⟩