Chemoton

Reaction scheme of the chemoton, showing the interplay of metabolism, information and structural closure. Based on Fig. 1.1 of Gánti (2003)[1]

The term chemoton (short for 'chemical automaton') refers to an abstract model for the fundamental unit of life introduced by Hungarian theoretical biologist Tibor Gánti. Gánti conceived the basic idea in 1952 and formulated the concept in 1971 in his book The Principles of Life (originally written in Hungarian, and translated to English only in 2003).[1][2] He suggested that the chemoton was the original ancestor of all organisms.

The basic assumption of the model is that life should fundamentally and essentially have three properties: metabolism, self-replication, and a bilipid membrane.[3] The metabolic and replication functions together form an autocatalytic subsystem necessary for the basic functions of life, and a membrane encloses this subsystem to separate it from the surrounding environment. Therefore, any system having such properties may be regarded as alive, and it will be subjected to natural selection and contain a self-sustaining cellular information. Some consider this model a significant contribution to origin of life as it provides a philosophy of evolutionary units.[4]

  1. ^ a b Gánti, Tibor (2003). Eörs Száthmary; James Griesemer (eds.). The Principles of Life. Oxford University Press. ISBN 9780198507260.
  2. ^ Gánti, Tibor (31 December 2003). Chemoton Theory: Theory of Living Systems. Translated by Elisabeth Csárán. Kluwer Academic/Plenum Publishers. ISBN 9780306477850.
  3. ^ Van Segbroeck S, Nowé A, Lenaerts T (2009). "Stochastic simulation of the chemoton". Artif Life. 15 (2): 213–226. CiteSeerX 10.1.1.398.8949. doi:10.1162/artl.2009.15.2.15203. PMID 19199383. S2CID 10634307.
  4. ^ Hoenigsberg HF (2007). "From geochemistry and biochemistry to prebiotic evolution...we necessarily enter into Gánti's fluid automata". Genet Mol Res. 6 (2): 358–373. PMID 17624859.