THE ORIGIN OF LIFE AND EVOLUTIONARY BIOCHEMISTRY

By JOHN THOMPSON

CONTENTS AN INTRODUCTION TO THE SCIENTIFIC STUDY OF LIFE AND DEATH PART ONE: THE ORIGIN OF LIFE 1 PHILOSOPHICAL CONSIDERATIONS AND THE ORIGIN OF LIFE 2 THE BIOTIC WORLD 3 THE THEORY OF LIFE’S ORIGINS 4 LIFE AT THE VERY BEGINNING I: THE CHEMISTRY OF THE FIRST BIOMOLECULES 5 LIFE AT THE VERY BEGINNING II: THE EMERGENCE OF COMPLEX RNA MOLECULES 6 THE ORIGIN OF LIFE WAS AN EVOLUTIONARY TRANSITION IN INDIVIDUALITY 7 A SYNTHESIS FOR THE ORIGIN OF LIFE PART TWO: THE ORIGIN OF DEATH 8 PHILOSOPHICAL CONSIDERATIONS AND THE ORIGIN OF DEATH 9 OBSERVATIONS OF DEATH 10 MECHANISMS AND MEASURES OF PROGRAMMED CELL DEATH IN THE UNICELLULAR WORLD 11 TRUE PCD: WHEN PCD IS AN ADAPTATION 12 ERSATZ PCD: THE NON- ADAPTIVE EXPLANATIONS FOR PCD 13 PROGRAMMED CELL DEATH AND THE LEVELS OF SELECTION 14 A SYNTHESIS FOR THE ORIGIN OF PROGRAMMED CELL DEATH PART THREE: ORIGINS OF LIFE AND DEATH, AND THEIR COEVOLUTION 15 GROUP SELECTION AND THE ORIGINS OF LIFE AND DEATH 16 LIFE AND DEATH COEVOLUTION, AND THE EMERGENCE OF COMPLEXITY POSTFACE ADDITIONAL NOTES REFERENCE LIST