00755nam a2200217 i 450099100417598970753620020506114908.0990921s1903 it ||| | ita b10619938-39ule_instEXGIL135276ExLBiblioteca InterfacoltàitaGuerrini, Olindo175321Le rime a Ste/Stecchetti, LorenzoBologna :Zanichelli,1903XIX, 638 p. ;20 cm..b1061993802-04-1428-06-02991004175989707536LE002 Fondo Giudici A 3811LE002G-1803le002-E0.00-no 00000.i1070687228-06-02Rime a Ste231726UNISALENTOle00201-01-99ma -itait 3104000nam 22005895 450 991102196710332120250828130153.03-031-91763-410.1007/978-3-031-91763-9(MiAaPQ)EBC32274353(Au-PeEL)EBL32274353(CKB)40630391200041(DE-He213)978-3-031-91763-9(OCoLC)1535977743(EXLCZ)994063039120004120250828d2025 u| 0engurcnu||||||||txtrdacontentcrdamediacrrdacarrierProtocells and the Origin of Life /by Roberto Serra, Marco Villani1st ed. 2025.Cham :Springer Nature Switzerland :Imprint: Springer,2025.1 online resource (274 pages)The Frontiers Collection,2197-66193-031-91762-6 Setting the stage -- An overview of our main conceptual tool -- A bird’s eye view on cells -- Origins -- Spontaneous organization -- Self-organization in chemical reactions -- Collective self-replication in chemical reactions -- Protocells and synchronization -- Polymers in protocells -- Conclusions.How life can emerge in a lifeless environment is one of the major open scientific challenges. This book pays particular attention to self-organization phenomena that might have led to the appearance of the first protocells, i.e. cell-like structures, much simpler than present-day cells, endowed with some primitive kinds of metabolism and heredity. After a brief description of the known facts and main hypotheses, mathematical and computational models of protocells are discussed: they should complement laboratory experiments, allowing rapid explorations of the dynamical properties of several alternative types of protocell architectures. Given the great uncertainties about the actual origin of life, it seems impossible to provide a detailed and complete reconstruction of the first life forms. It is therefore necessary to identify plausible pathways, highlighting the main physical and chemical processes “towards life” that can take place. Generic models, which are abstract enough to encompass different specific hypotheses, are particularly relevant, as they allow one to identify properties which are common to several different detailed scenarios. They are widely discussed, and a particular case is described in detail, namely that of synchronization between the rate of molecular replication and that of reproduction of the whole protocell, which is a necessary condition for sustainable growth of a population and a prerequisite for further evolution. Using generic models, it is shown that such synchronization spontaneously emerges in successive generations, under very general assumptions. The book also contains extensive descriptions of the emergence of long polymers, of autocatalytic sets and of the interactions between protocells and their environments. The book is not meant only for specialists, but also for scientists working in different fields, as well as for laymen with an interest in science. It requires a basic knowledge of chemistry and biology, and an interest in simulation models.The Frontiers Collection,2197-6619System theoryEvolution (Biology)BiophysicsComplex SystemsEvolutionary BiologyBiophysicsSystem theory.Evolution (Biology)Biophysics.Complex Systems.Evolutionary Biology.Biophysics.530.1Serra Roberto27458Villani Marco121247MiAaPQMiAaPQMiAaPQBOOK9911021967103321Protocells and the Origin of Life4429550UNINA