Theoretical perspective on synthetic man-made life:Learning from the origin of life  

作　　者：Lu Peng Zecheng Zhang Xianyi Wang Weiyi Qiu Liqian Zhou Hui Xiao Chunxiuzi Liu Shaohua Tang Zhiwei Qin Jiakun Jiang Zengru Di Yu Liu 

机构地区：[1]International Academic Center of Complex Systems,Beijing Normal University,Zhuhai,China [2]Swarma Research,Bejing,China [3]Department of Philosophy,Shanghai Jiao TongUniversity,Shanghai,China [4]Center for Biological Science and Technology,Advanced Institute of Natural Sciences,Beijing Normal University,Zhuhai,China [5]Center for Statistics and Data Science,Bejing Normal University,Zhuhai,China

出　　处：《Quantitative Biology》2023年第4期376-394,共19页定量生物学（英文版）

基　　金：National Natural Science Foundation of China,Grant/Award Numbers:12205012,71731002;Beijing Normal University via the Youth Talent Strategic Program,Grant/Award Number:28705-310432106;Atlas Project of bio-archae by Swarma Research。

摘　　要：Creating a man-made life in the laboratory is one of life science's most intriguing yet challenging problems.Advances in synthetic biology and related theories,particularly those related to the origin of life,have laid the groundwork for further exploration and understanding in this field of artificial life or man-made life.But there remains a wealth of quantitative mathematical models and tools that have yet to be applied to this area.In this paper,we review the two main approaches often employed in the field of man-made life:the top-down approach that reduces the complexity of extant and existing living systems and the bottom-up approach that integrates welldefined components,by introducing the theoretical basis,recent advances,and their limitations.We then argue for another possible approach,namely"bottom-up from the origin of life":Starting with the establishment of autocatalytic chemical reaction networks that employ physical boundaries as the initial compartments,then designing directed evolutionary systems,with the expectation that independent compartments will eventually emerge so that the system becomes free-living.This approach is actually analogous to the process of how life originated.With this paper,we aim to stimulate the interest of synthetic biologists and experimentalists to consider a more theoretical perspective,and to promote the communication between the origin of life community and the synthetic man-made life community.

关 键 词：artificial cell AUTOCATALYTIC ladderpath ORIGIN of LIFE protocell 

分 类 号：Q81[生物学—生物工程]