In this book Addy Pross presents a theory on the origin of
life. He describes some recent research into
the systems chemistry of self-replicating chemicals. Using this he shows how this chemistry matches
the behavior of simple living creatures.
Research into chemical systems indicates that these systems
display properties that individual chemicals do not. The one that matters for Pross’s argument is
Dynamic Kinetic Stability (DKS). DKS is similar
to entropic stability of chemicals in that it is the tendency of a system to
remain the same. It differs in that the molecules
in the system can all be constantly changing while the overall system maintains
the same concentrations of those molecules.
The research demonstrates that some self-replicating RNA does tend to
persist in this way. It also shows that these
RNA molecules exhibit other properties normally associated with biology. Where there are several types the one that
replicates better dominates and replaces the worse replicators. When more than one competes for a single resource
eventually one of them will replace its competitors. Where there are several possible resources different
types can dominate.
This is an interesting book.
The question is the origin of life and the evidence provided supports
the argument Pross makes. It is also a
short book at just 200 pages. It
probably should have been shorter. Pross
has a tendency to layout familiar points in excruciating detail with multiple
illustrations before getting to his point.
It can be bought on Amazon.
