Earth-Life Science Institute, Tokyo Institute of Technology, Meguro, Tokyo 152-8551, Japan.
Araya Brain Imaging, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo, Japan.
Philos Trans A Math Phys Eng Sci. 2017 Dec 28;375(2109). doi: 10.1098/rsta.2016.0347.
A feature of many of the chemical systems plausibly involved in the origins of terrestrial life is that they are complex and messy-producing a wide range of compounds via a wide range of mechanisms. However, the fundamental behaviour of such systems is currently not well understood; we do not have the tools to make statistical predictions about such complex chemical networks. This is, in part, due to a lack of quantitative data from which such a theory could be built; specifically, functional measurements of messy chemical systems. Here, we propose that the pantheon of experimental approaches to the origins of life should be expanded to include the study of 'functional measurements'-the direct study of bulk properties of chemical systems and their interactions with other compounds, the formation of structures and other behaviours, even in cases where the precise composition and mechanisms are unknown.This article is part of the themed issue 'Reconceptualizing the origins of life'.
许多可能涉及地球生命起源的化学系统的一个特点是它们很复杂且混乱——通过多种机制产生广泛的化合物。然而，目前人们对这类系统的基本行为还不太了解；我们没有工具可以对这类复杂的化学网络进行统计预测。部分原因是缺乏可用于构建此类理论的定量数据；具体来说，是混乱化学系统的功能测量数据。在这里，我们提出，生命起源实验方法的万神殿应该扩大，以包括“功能测量”的研究——直接研究化学系统的整体性质及其与其他化合物的相互作用、结构的形成和其他行为，即使在精确组成和机制未知的情况下也是如此。本文是专刊“重新构想生命起源”的一部分。
