Template-Based Catalysis and the Emergence of Collectively Autocatalytic Systems

TL;DR

This paper explores how molecular replication and protocell reproduction could emerge in prebiotic environments using computational models.

Contribution

The study introduces a biologically relevant variant of the Binary Polymer Model with structure-dependent catalytic activity.

Findings

The C-BPM model shows clear differences from the original K-BPM model in simulating molecular interactions.

The existence of a RAF does not ensure protocell survival unless only a subset of species is involved.

Small autocatalytic networks may have preceded the complex networks in modern life.

Abstract

Mathematical and computational models, which have been successfully used in various fields of biology, are particularly relevant in studies on the origin of life, where wet experiments have not yet been able to obtain fully “living” entities from abiotic materials. This paper investigates mathematical and computational models of interacting polymers in prebiotic environments to understand how molecular replication and protocell reproduction could emerge. This study builds on the Binary Polymer Model (K-BPM), in which polymers are represented as binary strings that undergo catalyzed condensation and cleavage reactions, by introducing a biologically relevant variant (C-BPM), where catalytic activity depends on polymer structure. The model is analyzed with respect to the formation of autocatalytic networks, formalized as Reflexive Autocatalytic Food-generated (RAF) sets, embedded in a protocell in order to simulate their dynamics. The results show clear differences between K-BPM and C-BPM models. They also show that the existence of a RAF does not guarantee the survival of a population of protocells, although it may be possible when only a subset of the existing species partakes in the RAF, thus suggesting that small autocatalytic networks may have preceded the larger networks found in modern life.

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