Comparative analysis of redox properties across three chemically distinct datasets—interstellar compounds, human nutritional molecules, and >40 million substances in the PubChem database—reveals a striking and highly non-random pattern.
Posted inAstrochemistry, Astronomy & Telescopes, Biochemistry & Organic Chemistry, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Genomics, Proteomics, Bioinformatics, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Interstellar, Status Report
![The logic of self-replicating living “machines”. Cells reproduce through a complex process that uses DNA as a set of instructions but requires also DNA to be replicated. In von Neumann’s theory (a), a formal machine capable of copying itself would require a set of instructions to guide the construction of a new machine under some controlled states such that instructions also get replicated. In biology, one crucial component of the cellular translation machinery is the ribosome (b), made of two subunits (RibLU and RibSU) that “read” RNA strings to synthesise proteins, playing the role of the Constructor. In a molecular, embodied implementation of cell reproduction, self-organised interactions between a compartment, metabolism and information must interact. An example of a simple implementation is shown in (c) for a synthetic cell involving a compartment coupled to double-stranded polymers and a minimal metabolism (adapted from [127]). Here, a precursor pL is transformed into lipids (L) that allow membrane growth until some instability triggers division. -- preprints.org](https://i0.wp.com/astrobiology.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/Fundamental-Constraints-To-The-Logic-Of-Living-Systems.png?resize=1200%2C720&ssl=1)