Replication and Evolution in Inorganic Systems

Using layer silicates as models, the principle of replication, i.e. the spontaneous self‐multiplication of a carrier of information, can be shown to be a general property of certain macromolecular systems. Errors in replication and feedback together with environmental influences may lead to mutants with higher or lower replication rates, thus enabling evolution. In the light of these findings, the question of whether or not chemical evolution resulted directly in the nucleic acid/protein system, i.e. the genetic principle common to all living systems known up to now, has to be answered. It seems conceivable that as a first step a much simpler replicating system was formed: such a system might then have undergone an evolution of replicating systems, resulting in the final nucleic acid/protein system.