The genetic code and the origin of life

Acta Biotheoretica 25 (4):259-263 (1976)
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Abstract

The problem of the origin of life understandably counts as one of the most exciting questions in the natural sciences, but in spite of almost endless speculation on this subject, it is still far from its final solution. The complexity of the functional correlation between recent nucleic acids and proteins can e.g. give rise to the assumption that the genetic code (and life) could not originate on the Earth. It was Portelli (1975) who published the hypothesis that the genetic code could not originate during the history of the Earth. In his opinion the recent genetic code represents the informational message transmitted by living systems of the previous cycle of the Universe. Here however, we defend the existence of a certain strategy in the syntheses of the genetic code during the history of the Earth. The strategy of correlation between amino acid and nucleotide polymers made an increasing velocity of the chemical evolution possible, that is, it increased the velocity of formation of the genetic code. Thus, life with the recent genetic code could originate on the Earth within the present cycle of the Universe.

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An introduction to cybernetics.William Ross Ashby - 1956 - London: Chapman & Hall.
An Introduction to Cybernetics. [REVIEW]W. R. Ashby - 1957 - Australasian Journal of Philosophy 35:147.
The genetic code and the origin of life.C. Portelli - 1975 - Acta Biotheoretica 24 (3-4):176-177.

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