Journal ArticleDOI
The hypercycle. A principle of natural self-organization. Part A: Emergence of the hypercycle.
Manfred Eigen,Peter Schuster +1 more
TLDR
In this article, a detailed study of a special type of functional organization and demonstrates its relevance with respect to the origin and evolution of life is presented, which can be formally represented by the concept of the quasi-species.Abstract:
This paper is the first part of a trilogy, which comprises a detailed study of a special type of functional organization and demonstrates its relevance with respect to the origin and evolution of life. Self-replicative macromolecules, such as RNA or DNA in a suitable environment exhibit a behavior, which we may call Darwinian and which can be formally represented by the concept of the quasi-species. A quasi-species is defined as a given distribution of macromolecular species with closely interrelated sequences, dominated by one or several (degenerate) master copies. External constraints enforce the selection of the best adapted distribution, commonly referred to as the wild-type. Most important for Darwinian behavior are the criteria for internal stability of the quasi-species. If these criteria are violated, the information stored in the nucleotide sequence of the master copy will disintegrate irreversibly leading to an error catastrophy. As a consequence, selection and evolution of RNA or DNA molecules is limited with respect to the amount of information that can be stored in a single replicative unit. An analysis of experimental data regarding RNA and DNA replication at various levels of organization reveals, that a sufficient amount of information for the build up of a translation machinery can be gained only via integration of several different replicative units (or reproductive cycles) through functional linkages. A stable functional integration then will raise the system to a new level of organization and thereby enlarge its information capacity considerably. The hypercycle appears to be such a form of organization.read more
Citations
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Journal ArticleDOI
The Structure and Function of Complex Networks
TL;DR: Developments in this field are reviewed, including such concepts as the small-world effect, degree distributions, clustering, network correlations, random graph models, models of network growth and preferential attachment, and dynamical processes taking place on networks.
Journal ArticleDOI
Evolutionary games and spatial chaos
Michael A. Nowak,Robert M. May +1 more
TL;DR: In this article, the authors explore the consequences of placing players in a two-dimensional spatial array: in each round, every individual 'plays the game' with the immediate neighbours; after this, each site is occupied either by its original owner or by one of the neighbours, depending on who scores the highest total in that round; and so to the next round of the game.
Book
Simulation for the Social Scientist
Nigel Gilbert,Klaus G. Troitzsch +1 more
TL;DR: Social scientists in a wide range of fields will find this book an essential tool for research, particularly in sociology, economics, anthropology, geography, organizational theory, political science, social policy, cognitive psychology and cognitive science, and it will also appeal to computer scientists interested in distributed artificial intelligence, multi-agent systems and agent technologies.
Journal ArticleDOI
RNA virus mutations and fitness for survival
Esteban Domingo,John J. Holland +1 more
TL;DR: E Epidemiological as well as functional and structural studies suggest that RNA viruses can tolerate restricted types and numbers of mutations during any specific time point during their evolution, which may open new avenues for combating viral infections.
Journal ArticleDOI
The complete genome sequence of the hyperthermophilic, sulphate-reducing archaeon Archaeoglobus fulgidus
Hans-Peter Klenk,Rebecca A. Clayton,Jean-Francois Tomb,Owen White,Karen E. Nelson,Karen A. Ketchum,Robert J. Dodson,Michelle Gwinn,Erin Hickey,Jeremy Peterson,Delwood Richardson,Anthony R. Kerlavage,David E. Graham,Nikos C. Kyrpides,Robert D. Fleischmann,John Quackenbush,Norman H. Lee,Granger G. Sutton,Steven R. Gill,Ewen F. Kirkness,Brian Dougherty,Keith McKenney,Mark Raymond Adams,Brendan J. Loftus,Scott N. Peterson,Claudia I. Reich,Leslie Klis McNeil,Jonathan H. Badger,Anna Glodek,Lixin Zhou,Ross Overbeek,Jeannine D. Gocayne,Janice Weidman,Lisa McDonald,Teresa Utterback,Matthew D. Cotton,Tracy Spriggs,Patricia Artiach,Brian P. Kaine,Sean M. Sykes,Paul W. Sadow,Kurt P. D'Andrea,Cheryl Bowman,Claire Fujii,Stacey Garland,Tanya Mason,Gary J. Olsen,Claire M. Fraser,Hamilton O. Smith,Carl R. Woese,J. Craig Venter +50 more
TL;DR: The A. fulgidus genome encodes functionally uncharacterized yet conserved proteins, two-thirds of which are shared with M. jannaschii (428 ORFs), indicating substantial archaeal gene diversity.
References
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Journal ArticleDOI
A mathematical theory of communication
TL;DR: This final installment of the paper considers the case where the signals or the messages or both are continuously variable, in contrast with the discrete nature assumed until now.
Journal Article
The mathematical theory of communication
Claude E. Shannon,Warren Weaver +1 more
TL;DR: The Mathematical Theory of Communication (MTOC) as discussed by the authors was originally published as a paper on communication theory more than fifty years ago and has since gone through four hardcover and sixteen paperback printings.
Journal ArticleDOI
Evolution in Mendelian Populations.
TL;DR: Page 108, last line of text, for "P/P″" read "P′/ P″."
Book
On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection, or, The Preservation of Favoured Races in the Struggle for Life
TL;DR: The "Penguin Classics" edition of "On the Origin of Species" as discussed by the authors contains an introduction and notes by William Bynum, and features a cover designed by Damien Hirst.
Journal ArticleDOI
Selforganization of matter and the evolution of biological macromolecules
TL;DR: The causes and effect of cause and effect, and the prerequisites of Selforganization, are explained in more detail in the I.IA.