Singularities: Landmarks on the Pathways of Life
Abstract
Erwin Schrödinger's What is Life? published 60 years ago, influenced much of the development of molecular biology. In this new book Christian De Duve, Nobel Laureate and pioneer of modern cell biology, presents a contemporary response to this classic, providing a sophisticated consideration of the key steps or bottlenecks that constrain the origins and evolution of life. De Duve surveys the entire history of life, including insights into the conditions that may have led to its emergence. He uses as landmarks the many remarkable singularities along the way, such as the single ancestry of all living beings, the universal genetic code, and the monophyletic origin of eukaryotes. The book offers a brief guided tour of biochemistry and phylogeny, from the basic molecular building blocks to the origin of humans. Each successive singularity is introduced in a sequence paralleling the hypothetical development of features and conditions on the primitive earth, explaining how and why each transition to greater complexity occurred.
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There are two types of amino acids, depending on whether they were supplied by the prebiotic environment (Phase 1) or were biosynthetically produced (Phase 2).
“There are two types of amino acids, depending on whether they were supplied by the prebiotic environment (Phase 1) or were biosynthetically produced (Phase 2) [68,105].”
From The Origin of Prebiotic Information System in the Peptide/RNA World: A Simulation Model of the Evolution of Translation and the Genetic Code (2019) · cites this paper as [68]
The first phase of amino acids consists of glycine, alanine, serine, aspartic acid, glutamic acid, valine, leucine, isoleucine, proline, and threonine.
“The first phase of amino acids consists of glycine, alanine, serine, aspartic acid, glutamic acid, valine, leucine, isoleucine, proline, and threonine.”
From The Origin of Prebiotic Information System in the Peptide/RNA World: A Simulation Model of the Evolution of Translation and the Genetic Code (2019) · cites this paper as [68]
Phase 2 amino acids include phenylalanine, tyrosine, arginine, histidine, tryptophan, asparagine, glutamine, lysine, cysteine, and methionine.
“Phase 2 amino acids include phenylalanine, tyrosine, arginine, histidine, tryptophan, asparagine, glutamine, lysine, cysteine, and methionine.”
From The Origin of Prebiotic Information System in the Peptide/RNA World: A Simulation Model of the Evolution of Translation and the Genetic Code (2019) · cites this paper as [68]
Phase 2 amino acids entered the code by means of biosynthesis from the Phase 1 amino acids with the emergence of tRNA molecules, aminoacyl transferase enzyme, and ribosomes.
“Phase 2, the amino acids entered the code by means of biosynthesis from the Phase 1 amino acids with the emergence of tRNA molecules, aminoacyl transferase enzyme, and ribosomes [68,82,105,108].”
From The Origin of Prebiotic Information System in the Peptide/RNA World: A Simulation Model of the Evolution of Translation and the Genetic Code (2019) · cites this paper as [68]
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- Authors
- de Duve, C.
- Venue
- Cambridge University Press eBooks
- Publisher
- Cambridge University Press
- Published
- 2005-10-24
- OpenAlex
- W4211143379
- Cited by
- 141
- References
- 20
- Citations by year
- 2026: 3 · 2025: 2 · 2024: 4 · 2023: 14 · 2022: 5 · 2021: 2 · 2020: 2 · 2019: 6 · 2018: 8 · 2017: 6 · 2016: 7 · 2015: 8 · 2014: 4 · 2013: 1 · 2012: 2
- FWCI
- 6.34
- Type
- book
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Cambridge University Press eBooks (publishedVersion)
- Topics
- Physical Sciences › Physics and Astronomy › Astronomy and Astrophysics › Origins and Evolution of Life
- Social Sciences › Arts and Humanities › History and Philosophy of Science › Philosophy and History of Science
- Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Genetics › Evolution and Genetic Dynamics
- Keywords
- origin of life, evolution of life, molecular evolution, universal genetic code, phylogeny, biochemistry, early Earth, history of life
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