The spark that created life
September 12, 2018, Monash University
Evolution by Darwinian natural selection is immensely powerful—both in nature and within laboratories. Using 'laboratory evolution', we can take an enzyme which combines random mutations and functional selection, and improve its function by more than 1000 times. You can see evidence of science taking advantage of evolution across the field, from synthesised medications used to prevent the reoccurrence of heart attacks (beta blockers) to the development of tumor-targeting antibody therapeutics.
However, nothing evolves unless it already exists. When life started more than three billion years ago, what was the spark that created something from randomness?
Read more at:
https://phys.org/news/2018-09-life.html#jCp
