0000000000766090
AUTHOR
Kepa Ruiz-mirazo
A universal definition of life: autonomy and open-ended evolution.
Life is a complex phenomenon that not only requires individual self-producing and self- sustaining systems but also a historical-collective organization of those individual systems, which brings about characteristic evolutionary dynamics. On these lines, we propose to define univer- sally living beings as autonomous systems with open-ended evolution capacities, and we claim that all such systems must have a semi-permeable active boundary (membrane), an energy trans- duction apparatus (set of energy currencies) and, at least, two types of functionally interdependent macromolecular components (catalysts and records). The latter is required to articulate a 'phenotype- genotype' decoupling that…
Designing a Simulation Model of a Self-Maintaining Cellular System
This paper deals with the problem of finding a suitable framework for designing computer simulations that could help us determine the minimal requirements (both material and organizational) for the origin of the first full-fledged autonomous systems. The design of a particular model that takes into account some fundamental thermodynamic requirements is offered and discussed. Behind this work, there is a belief that Artificial Life models can inform biology on several fundamental questions (such as the origin and definition of life) but only provided that they assume more realistic and grounded premises to lead us to more conclusive results.