A recursive microfluidic platform to explore the emergence of chemical evolution

• David Doran,
• Marc Rodriguez-Garcia,
• Rebecca Turk-MacLeod,
• Geoffrey J. T. Cooper and
• Leroy Cronin

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2017, 13, 1702–1709, doi:10.3762/bjoc.13.164

• : artificial life; autocatalysis; automated platforms; chemical evolution; evolution before genes; evolution first; microfluidics; Introduction The transition from an inanimate inorganic world, principally consisting of minerals, gases and small organic compounds, to the living world with the first life forms

• errors or variations in the heritance process. Attempts to facilitate the emergence of adaptive evolution in artificial systems have been fraught with difficulties. A lack of clear, tangible criteria for identifying this process when it occurs has hindered efforts to create artificial life. The hallmark

Biomimetic molecular design tools that learn, evolve, and adapt

• David A Winkler

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2017, 13, 1288–1302, doi:10.3762/bjoc.13.125

• evolutionary transition of life. Establishing ethical principles for artificial life. Development of advanced computational AI methods is likely to cause social disruption in the next two decades but they should bring unprecedented benefits, such as improved medical diagnostics, and cheaper more efficient

Towards open-ended evolution in self-replicating molecular systems

• Herman Duim and
• Sijbren Otto

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2017, 13, 1189–1203, doi:10.3762/bjoc.13.118

• question that is not only relevant in evolutionary chemistry, but also has far-reaching consequences for the development of artificial life in computer models. As Moreno and Ruiz-Mirazo point out, in order for a system to fully evolve it should not only exhibit structural variety, but also some form of