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Chasing Synthetic Life: A Tale of Forms, Chemical Fossils, and Biomorphs
Author(s) -
Cintas Pedro
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
angewandte chemie international edition
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 5.831
H-Index - 550
eISSN - 1521-3773
pISSN - 1433-7851
DOI - 10.1002/anie.201915853
Subject(s) - compartmentalization (fire protection) , living matter , soundness , natural (archaeology) , artificial life , epistemology , protocell , abiogenesis , cognitive science , chemistry , philosophy , paleontology , astrobiology , biology , computer science , psychology , artificial intelligence , organism , biochemistry , linguistics , membrane , enzyme
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.