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Two Approaches to the Study of the Origin of Life

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Abstract

This paper compares two approaches that attempt to explain the origin of life, or biogenesis. The more established approach is one based on chemical principles, whereas a new, yet not widely known approach begins from a physical perspective. According to the first approach, life would have begun with—often organic—compounds. After having developed to a certain level of complexity and mutual dependence within a non-compartmentalised organic soup, they would have assembled into a functioning cell. In contrast, the second, physical type of approach has life developing within tiny compartments from the beginning. It emphasises the importance of redox reactions between inorganic elements and compounds found on two sides of a compartmental boundary. Without this boundary, “life” would not have begun, nor have been maintained; this boundary—and the complex cell membrane that evolved from it—forms the essence of life.

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Acknowledgements

I am very indebted to Prof. Patricia Vickers-Rich for all the effort she put into making this article concise and readable. I also thank Profs. Hugh E.H. Paterson and David M. Goodall for their usual stimulation, encouragement and comments of various sorts on the manuscript. Prof. Michael J. Russell made many extremely useful and insightful comments.

Unfortunately, only after closing the manuscript of this article, the books by F.M. Harold, 2001, The Way of the Cell. Oxford University Press, Oxford; de Duve, 2005, Singularities, Oxford University Press, Oxford; and the article by P.G. Falkowski, 2006. Tracing oxygen’s imprint on Earth’s metabolic evolution, Science, 311:1724–1725 came to my notice.

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  1. Institute of Ecological Science, Vrije Universiteit, De Boelelaan 1087, 1081 HV, Amsterdam, The Netherlands

    R. Hengeveld

  2. ALTERRA, P.O. Box 47, 6700 AA, Wageningen, The Netherlands

    R. Hengeveld

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Hengeveld, R. Two Approaches to the Study of the Origin of Life. Acta Biotheor 55, 97–131 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10441-007-9017-6

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