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A self-replicator is usually understood to be an object of definite form thatpromotes the conversion of materials in its environment into a nearly identicalcopy of itself. The challenge of engineering novel, micro- or nano-scaleself-replicators has attracted keen interest in recent years, both becauseexponential amplification is an attractive method for generating high yields ofspecific products, and also because self-reproducing entities have thepotential to be optimized or adapted through rounds of iterative selection.Substantial steps forward have been achieved both in the engineering ofparticular self-replicating molecules, and also in characterizing the physicalbasis for possible mechanisms of self-replication. At present, however, thereis need for a theoretical treatment of what physical conditions are mostconducive to the emergence of novel self-replicating structures from areservoir of building blocks on a desired time-scale. Here we report progressin addressing this need. By analyzing the dynamics of a generic class ofheterogeneous particle mixtures whose reaction rates emerge from basic physicalinteractions, we demonstrate that the spontaneous discovery of self-replicationis controlled by relatively generic features of the chemical space, namely: thedispersion in the distribution of reaction timescales and bound-state energies.Based on this analysis, we provide quantitative criteria that may aidexperimentalists in designing a system capable of producing self-replicators,and in estimating the likely timescale for exponential growth to start.

Design of conditions for emergence of self-replicators