The Spontaneous Evolution of Biology
We have demonstrated the potential of amino acids to polymerise into peptides, proteins, and form cell-like structures in the absence of cellular machinery, including nucleic acids, lipids or sugars. Not only has cell-free protein replication been observed, but evidence of protein templating strongly suggests protein mediated replication. We believe this is the first experimental demonstration of the link between the Miller-Urey experiment which produced amino acids from elemental starting material, and cell-like structures. Life, by definition, is the condition that distinguishes animals and plants from inorganic matter, including the capacity for growth, reproduction, functional activity, and continual change preceding death. Here we have characterised peptides which form reproducibly, into structures with longevity and which subsequently catalyse the polymerisation of free amino acids into copies of themselves. The proteomic analysis of these samples over time also enables evolution of peptide sequences to be seen and quantified. This evolution of both complex structure and functionally active proteins may potentially demonstrate a credible path to the beginnings of life, which we call the Spontaneous Evolution of Biology (SEB) Theory. One Sentence Summary We have shown how peptides and proteins can be made from amino acids in an aqueous media without cells, lipids or nucleic acids, duplicating themselves and forming complex structures which resemble cells.