Protocells and the Origin of Life
暫譯: 原始細胞與生命的起源

Serra, Roberto, Villani, Marco

Protocells and the Origin of Life
  • 出版商: Springer
  • 出版日期: 2025-08-29
  • 售價: $3,440
  • 貴賓價: 9.5 折 $3,268
  • 語言: 英文
  • 頁數: 203
  • 裝訂: Hardcover - also called cloth, retail trade, or trade
  • ISBN: 3031917626
  • ISBN-13: 9783031917622
  • 相關分類: 生物資訊 Bioinformatics

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商品描述

How life can emerge in a lifeless environment is one of the major open scientific challenges. This book pays particular attention to self-organization phenomena that might have led to the appearance of the first protocells, i.e. cell-like structures, much simpler than present-day cells, endowed with some primitive kinds of metabolism and heredity. After a brief description of the known facts and main hypotheses, mathematical and computational models of protocells are discussed: they should complement laboratory experiments, allowing rapid explorations of the dynamical properties of several alternative types of protocell architectures.
Given the great uncertainties about the actual origin of life, it seems impossible to provide a detailed and complete reconstruction of the first life forms. It is therefore necessary to identify plausible pathways, highlighting the main physical and chemical processes "towards life" that can take place. Generic models, which are abstract enough to encompass different specific hypotheses, are particularly relevant, as they allow one to identify properties which are common to several different detailed scenarios. They are widely discussed, and a particular case is described in detail, namely that of synchronization between the rate of molecular replication and that of reproduction of the whole protocell, which is a necessary condition for sustainable growth of a population and a prerequisite for further evolution. Using generic models, it is shown that such synchronization spontaneously emerges in successive generations, under very general assumptions.
The book also contains extensive descriptions of the emergence of long polymers, of autocatalytic sets and of the interactions between protocells and their environments.
The book is not meant only for specialists, but also for scientists working in different fields, as well as for laymen with an interest in science. It requires a basic knowledge of chemistry and biology, and an interest in simulation models.

商品描述(中文翻譯)

如何在無生命的環境中產生生命是當前主要的科學挑戰之一。本書特別關注自我組織現象，這些現象可能導致第一個原始細胞（protocells）的出現，即比現今細胞更簡單的類細胞結構，具備某些原始的代謝和遺傳特徵。在簡要描述已知事實和主要假設後，討論了原始細胞的數學和計算模型：這些模型應該補充實驗室實驗，允許快速探索幾種不同原始細胞架構的動態特性。

鑒於對生命實際起源的巨大不確定性，似乎不可能提供第一生命形式的詳細和完整重建。因此，有必要識別出合理的途徑，突顯出可以發生的「走向生命」的主要物理和化學過程。通用模型，這些模型足夠抽象以涵蓋不同的具體假設，特別相關，因為它們允許識別出幾種不同詳細情境中共同的特性。這些模型被廣泛討論，並詳細描述了一個特定案例，即分子複製速率與整個原始細胞繁殖速率之間的同步，這是可持續增長一個族群的必要條件，也是進一步演化的前提。使用通用模型顯示，在非常一般的假設下，這種同步在連續世代中自發出現。

本書還包含了長聚合物、自催化集合及原始細胞與其環境之間相互作用的廣泛描述。

本書不僅僅針對專家，也適合在不同領域工作的科學家，以及對科學感興趣的外行人。它需要基本的化學和生物學知識，以及對模擬模型的興趣。

作者簡介

Roberto Serra, full professor of Complex Systems at the University of Modena and Reggio Emilia (now retired), has previously been the Head of the Environmental Research Centre of the Montedison industrial group, the President of the Italian Association for Artificial Intelligence AI*IA, the Chairman of the Science Board of the European Centre for Living Technology and a fellow of the Institute of Advanced Study of the University of Amsterdam. His main research interests, besides protocells, concern the dynamical modelling of Complex Systems, with applications to gene regulatory networks and cell differentiation, the analysis of their organization and the dynamical systems approach to Artificial Intelligence. He is the author or editor of eleven books and of about 190 papers in international journals and conference proceedings with peer review.

Marco Villani is associate professor of Computer Science at the University of Modena and Reggio Emilia and a fellow of the European Centre for Living Technology. His main research interests, besides protocells, concern the identification and analysis of the organization of Complex Systems. In particular, he studies the dynamic modeling of gene regulation systems and socio-technological systems. He has been a member of the board of the Italian Association for Artificial Intelligence (AI*IA) and is currently a member of the Science Board of the European Centre for Living Technology. He is the author or editor of five books and of about 170 papers in international journals and conference proceedings with peer review.

作者簡介(中文翻譯)

羅伯托·塞拉（Roberto Serra）是摩德納與雷焦艾米利亞大學（University of Modena and Reggio Emilia）複雜系統的全職教授（現已退休），曾擔任蒙特迪森工業集團環境研究中心主任、意大利人工智慧協會（AI*IA）會長、歐洲生命技術中心科學委員會主席，以及阿姆斯特丹大學高等研究所的研究員。他的主要研究興趣除了原始細胞（protocells）外，還包括複雜系統的動態建模，應用於基因調控網絡和細胞分化，分析其組織結構，以及將動態系統方法應用於人工智慧。他是十一部書籍的作者或編輯，並在國際期刊和會議論文集中發表了約190篇經過同行評審的論文。

馬爾科·維拉尼（Marco Villani）是摩德納與雷焦艾米利亞大學（University of Modena and Reggio Emilia）計算機科學的副教授，也是歐洲生命技術中心的研究員。他的主要研究興趣除了原始細胞（protocells）外，還包括複雜系統的組織識別與分析。特別是，他研究基因調控系統和社會技術系統的動態建模。他曾是意大利人工智慧協會（AI*IA）理事會的成員，目前是歐洲生命技術中心科學委員會的成員。他是五部書籍的作者或編輯，並在國際期刊和會議論文集中發表了約170篇經過同行評審的論文。

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