Chasing Synthetic Life: A Tale of Forms, Chemical Fossils, and Biomorphs.


Journal

Angewandte Chemie (International ed. in English)
ISSN: 1521-3773
Titre abrégé: Angew Chem Int Ed Engl
Pays: Germany
ID NLM: 0370543

Informations de publication

Date de publication:
04 05 2020
Historique:
received: 11 12 2019
pubmed: 13 2 2020
medline: 26 3 2021
entrez: 13 2 2020
Statut: ppublish

Résumé

This Essay focuses briefly on early studies elaborated by natural and chemical philosophers, and the once-called synthetic biologists, who postulated the transition from inanimate to animate matter and even foresaw the possibility of creating artificial life on the basis of physical and chemical principles only. Such ideas and speculations, ranging from soundness to weirdness, paved however the way to current developments in areas like abiotic pattern formation, cell compartmentalization, biomineralization, or the origin of life itself. In particular, the generation of biomorphs and their relationship to microfossils represents an active research domain and seems to be the logical way to bring the historical work up to the future, as some scientists are trying to make artificial cells. The last sections of this essay will also highlight modern science aimed at understanding what life is and, whether or not, it can be redefined in chemical terms.

Identifiants

pubmed: 32049403
doi: 10.1002/anie.201915853
doi:

Types de publication

Historical Article Journal Article Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't Review

Langues

eng

Sous-ensembles de citation

IM

Pagination

7296-7304

Informations de copyright

© 2020 Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

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Auteurs

Pedro Cintas (P)

Dpto. Química Orgánica e Inorgánica, Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad de Extremadura, 06006, Badajoz, Spain.

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