The basic principles of Darwinian evolution can act on non-living materials, suggesting that evolution predates life.

 The basic principles of Darwinian evolution can act on non-living materials, suggesting that evolution predates life! 

Self-replicating molecules demonstrate basic principles of Darwinian evolution

Darwinian evolution acts on all forms of life, but does evolution act on non-living materials as well?

In a paper, titled "Competitive exclusion among self-replicating molecules curtails the tendency of chemistry to diversify" published in Nature Chemistry on 29 November, chemists demonstrated that key principles of Darwinian evolution, such as survival of the fittest, also manifest themselves in simple non-living systems.

The researchers  used a system of three different self-replicating molecules, that, under the right conditions, grow and divide spontaneously. When set up to compete against each other, all requiring the same chemical building block to grow and replicate, one of them eventually outcompeted the others.

This is an example of "survival of the fittest." However, when they required different building blocks, all replicators were able to "survive" and co-exist. This resembles how species co-exist in different ecological niches.

These results demonstrate that the basic principles of Darwinian evolution can act on non-living materials, suggesting that evolution predates life. The next step is to investigate where Darwinian evolution can lead such non-living materials.

This work sheds new light on how life may have emerged from non-living materials and marks an important step in the synthesis of new forms of life in the laboratory.

 Marcel J. Eleveld et al, Competitive exclusion among self-replicating molecules curtails the tendency of chemistry to diversify, Nature Chemistry (2024). DOI: 10.1038/s41557-024-01664-0. On ChemRxiv: DOI: 10.26434/chemrxiv-2024-w9k6w

This image shows how a divergent chemical mixture can 'evolve' into a mixture of species, or be dominated by just one. Credit: Otto Lab / University of Groningen