Formuch of his professional career, Sidney W. Fox has devoted his thought and research to studies of molecular evolution. MOLECULAR EVOLUTION: PREBIOLOGICAL AND BIOLOGICAL is a dedicatory vol ume of thirty-five contributed papers commemorating, on the occasion of his sixtieth birthday, his many achievements. The volume had its conception in the USSR (by AIO), had much of its development in the USA (by DLR) , and was made possible by the enthusi astic responses and enc·ouragements of fifty-eight contributors from ten nations and many disciplines. These numbers connote not only the es teem in which S. W. Fox is regarded, but also the international and in terdisciplinary nature of studies of molecular evolution. The term "molecular evolution" is often associated with abiotic or prebiotic evolution; it is also used to denote processes of biotic evolu tion at the molecular level. The point of merger of these two sub-areas, at "life," represents but one stage (albeit a very important one) in the total process of the evolution of matter, from hydrogen to Homo sapiens and beyond. This volume considers aspects of molecular evolution in this broader sense. Accordingly, the contributors include persons ex perienced in the prebiological and also the biological aspects of molecu lar evolution; several "outside" viewpoints are provided by persons whose principal interests lie in other diSCiplines. The contributions are both experimental and theoretical.
Sprache
Verlagsort
Verlagsgruppe
Illustrationen
30 s/w Abbildungen
XX, 482 p. 30 illus.
Dateigröße
ISBN-13
978-1-4684-2019-7 (9781468420197)
DOI
10.1007/978-1-4684-2019-7
Schweitzer Klassifikation
Sidney W. Fox and Molecular Evolution.- History and Scope.- The Origin of Life Problem--A Brief Critique.- Origins.- Evolution of Levels of Evolution.- Space Exploration and the Origin of Life.- On Recognising Life.- Thermodynamic and Philosophical Considerations.- A Non-Equilibrium Thermodynamical Analysis of the Origin of Life.- Thermodynamics of Self-Assembly: An Empirical Example Relating Entropy and Evolution.- The Evolutionary Paradox and Biological Stability.- Chance in Evolution--Some Philosophical Remarks.- Micromolecules.- The Sources of Phosphorus on the Primitive Earth--An Inquiry.- Abiogenic Formation of Porphin, Chlorin, and Bacteriochlorin.- An Investigation of the Possible Differential Radiolysis of Amino Acid Optical Isomers by 14C Betas.- Synthesis of Glutamic Acid by Cyanoethylation of N-Acylaminoacetonitriles in Liquid Ammonia.- Macromolecules.- Proteins and Nucleic Acids in Prebiotic Evolution.- Model Experiments on the Prebiological Formation of Protein.- On the Electrophoretic Behavior of Thermal Polymers of Amino Acids.- Stereo-Enriched Poly- ? -Amino Acids: Synthesis under Postulated Prebiotic Conditions.- Light Enhanced Decarboxylations by Proteinoids.- Synthesis and Conformational Studies of Poly-Acidic Amino Acids Containing Optically Active Side Chains.- A Mechanism for Polypeptide Synthesis on a Protein Template.- Myeloperoxidase, the Peroxidase of a Primitive Cell, Its Reaction with Fe and H2O2.- Dependence of Poly U-Directed Cell-Free System on Ratios of Divalent and Monovalent Cations.- Informational Biopolymer Structure in Early Living Forms.- Trypsinogen Activation Peptides: An Example of Molecular Epigenesis.- Solvent Effects on Enzymes: Implications for Extraterrestrial Life.- Protocells and Cells.- Protein-Lipid Films as Prototypesof Biological Membranes.- Modelling of Structural and Functional Unity on Coacervate Systems.- Coacervate Systems and Evolution of Matter on the Earth.- Conjugation of Proteinoid Microspheres: A Model of Primordial Recombination.- Hydrothermally Associated Organic Microspheres from S. W. Africa and Elsewhere.- Studies on an Extreme Thermophile, Flavobacterium thermophilum HB 8.- Evolutionary Significance of Amoeba-Flagellate Transformation.- Academic Aspects.- The Heterotroph Hypothesis and High School Biology.- The Place of the Origin of Life in the Undergraduate Curriculum.- Man and Evolution.- Some Social and Philosophical Implications of Progress on the Origin and Synthesis of Life.
