WHAT IS LIFE?

Living things are hugely complex and have unique properties, such as self-maintenance and apparently purposeful behaviour which we d o not see in inert matter. So how does chemistry give rise to biology? What could have led the first replicating molecules up such a path? Now, developments in the emerging field of 'systems chemistry' are unlocking the problem. Addy Pross shows how the different kind of stability that operates among replicating molecules results in a tendency for chemical systems to become more complex and ac quire the...[Read more]