From Messy Chemistry to the Origin of Life

Dear Colleagues,

The origin of life is an unsolved scientific question and an area of active research. In recent years, many chemical systems with promising hints of life-like processes have been discovered. One such set of discoveries involves the ability to produce biologically relevant or precursor molecules in a wide variety of environments. Beyond the question of just producing particular precursor molecules, some studies investigate “life-like” processes in examples of functioning autocatalysis, non-enzymatic RNA replication, and biomimetic catalysis. One of the characteristics of life, as we know it, is a complex but highly organized metabolic reaction network. Such a network is markedly different from the chemistry observed in model prebiotic and abiotic chemical systems, which yields an apparently disorganized vast and complex mixture of chemical materials with an end product, often being a polymeric tar. Understanding the mechanisms of organization in these messy chemical systems, and how such systems eventually transitioned into or contributed to primitive biochemistries, is crucial to solving the question of the origin of life. This Special Issue welcomes submissions of original research papers, comprehensive reviews, and perspectives that demonstrate or summarize advances related, but not limited, to the following fields:

Experimental and computational studies of autocatalytic sets;

Information flows in complex chemical systems;

Selective chemical processes in prebiotic chemistry;

Chemical evolution in complex chemical systems;

Chemical characterization of complex chemical systems;

Advances in the analytical methodology applied to studies of complex chemical systems.

Prof. Dr. Irena Mamajanov
Dr. Tony Z. Jia
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

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Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Life is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2600 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.