| At Home in the Universe : The Search for Laws of Self-Organization and ComplexityClick for details
Stuart A. Kauffman
November 1996
Kauffman has done more than anyone else to supply the key missing piece of the propensity for self-organization that can join the random and the deterministic forces of evolution in a satisfactory theory of life's order. - Steven Jay Gould
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10 June 1999
David Whitehouse
Scientists have duplicated the harsh environment of cold interstellar space and created what they are calling "primitive cells."
They say the molecular structures they have synthesised mimic the membranes found in all living things.
They could have been important in protecting self-replicating molecules from the outside world allowing their evolution into primitive life.
Some of them have strange internal structures
These molecules could have been delivered to the young Earth and "kick-started" life on our planet.
Using common chemicals, researchers from Nasa's Ames Astrochemistry Laboratory and the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry at the University of California, Santa Cruz, have created so-called "proto"-cells.
"This process happens all the time in the dense molecular clouds of space," Dr Allamandola said.
"The formation of these biologically interesting compounds by irradiating simple interstellar ices shows that some of the organics falling to Earth in meteorites and interplanetary dust might have been born in the coldest regions of interstellar space."
Exploring Earth and Life Through Time
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Steven M. Stanley
| Life : A Natural History of the First Four Billion Years of Life on EarthClick for details
Richard Fortey
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Life in the Universe : Scientific American : A Special Issue
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Carolyn B. Mitchell
April 1995
Artificial Life is a field of scientific study that attempts to model living biological systems through complex algorithms. Scientists use these models to test and experiment with a multitude of factors on the behavior of the systems.
The artists at TPR/fusebox see these algorithms as a starting point for a new artistic exploration where the interactivity is not only between the user and the computer program but within the computer system itself. We are just beginning to explore.
Molecular Biology of the Gene
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James D Watson et al
WATSON, J. D. & CRICK, F. H. C.
Nature 171, 737-734 (1953)
The NASA Astrobiology Institute represents a partnership between NASA and a number of academic or other research organizations to promote, conduct, and lead integrated multidisciplinary astrobiology research and train young researchers. The Institute will showcase modern communications and information technology to bind together institutions and research teams in geographically separated locales to enable an unprecedented degree of remote interaction in pursuit of astrobiology research.
Astrobiology is the study of life in the universe. This cross-disciplinary field addresses many fundamental questions concerning the origin, distribution, and future of life in the universe. As we approach the new millennium, we find that many of these questions are within our reach, and important new insights are likely to result as space-age technology is applied to biological research. The Astrobiology Institute represents one of several NASA initiatives in astrobiology, with a special charter to develop new institutional relationships that will nurture and promote astrobiology research and training into the future.
Nature's Genome Gateway is a comprehensive web resource devoted to genomics. Access is free and the Gateway provides:
A library of original research papers, including all genome-related papers from Nature and Nature Genetics plus links to other major publications. Relevant News and Views articles are also provided.
A news service from Nature and Nature Genetics, providing up-to-the-minute coverage of research progress, policy issues, funding and ethical implications of genome sequencing.
A post-genomics section, covering the myriad applications of sequencing research and the technologies.
A set of links to the most useful and informative genomics sites on the web.
Origin of Species
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Charles Darwin and J. W. Burrow (Editor)
Origins of Life
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Freeman J. Dyson
May 1986
Duplicating the harsh conditions of cold interstellar space in the laboratory, scientists from The Astrochemistry Laboratory at NASA's Ames Research Center and the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry at The University of California Santa Cruz have created chemical compounds that may have been important for life's origin.
| Seven Clues to the Origin of Life : A Scientific Detective StoryClick for details
Alexander Graham Cairns-Smith
February 1991
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Steps Towards Life : A Perspective on Evolution
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Manfred Eigen et al
| The Blind Watchmaker : Why the Evidence of Evolution Reveals a Universe Without DesignClick for details
Richard Dawkins
September 1996
The watchmaker belongs to the eighteenth-century theologian William Paley, who made one of the most famous creationist arguments: Just as a watch is too complicated and too functional to have sprung into existence by accident, so too must all living things, with their far greater complexity, be purposefully designed. It was Charles Darwin's brilliant discovery that put the lie to these arguments. But only Richard Dawkins could have written this eloquent riposte to the creationists. Natural selection - the unconscious, automatic, blind, yet essentially nonrandom process that Darwin discovered - has no purpose in mind. If it can be said to play the role of watchmaker in nature, it is the blind watchmaker. Acclaimed as perhaps the most influential work on evolution written in this century, The Blind Watchmaker offers an engaging and accessible introduction to one of the most important scientific discoveries of all time.
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The Selfish Gene
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Richard Dawkins
Arizona University's view of the evolution of life.
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