Published In

Life

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

11-7-2012

Subjects

RNA -- Biology, Life -- Origin, RNA polymerases

Abstract

We describe the initial realization of behavior in the biosphere, which we term behavioral chemistry. If molecules are complex enough to attain a stochastic element to their structural conformation in such as a way as to radically affect their function in a biological (evolvable) setting, then they have the capacity to behave. This circumstance is described here as behavioral chemistry, unique in its definition from the colloquial chemical behavior. This transition between chemical behavior and behavioral chemistry need be explicit when discussing the root cause of behavior, which itself lies squarely at the origins of life and is the foundation of choice. RNA polymers of sufficient length meet the criteria for behavioral chemistry and therefore are capable of making a choice.

Description

© 2012 by the authors; licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.

This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY) which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

DOI

10.3390/life2040313

Persistent Identifier

http://archives.pdx.edu/ds/psu/10530

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