Yu Ernest Liu: Modelling the origin of self-replication

Explaining the origin of life requires us to elucidate how self-replication arises. To be specific, how can a self-replicating entity develop spontaneously from a chemical reaction system in which no reaction is self-replicating? Here, we set up a general mathematical model for chemical reaction systems that properly accounts for energetics, kinetics, and the conservation law. We found that (1) it is not very difficult to observe a system that is able to self-replicate, one of the most essential properties of life; (2) it is possible to construct a self-replicating system in which the entropy of some parts spontaneously decreases; (3) complex self-replicating molecules can emerge spontaneously and relatively easily from simple chemical reaction systems through a sequence of transitions; etc. Together, these results start to explain the origins of prebiotic evolution.