Panmere

From Nature Editor’s Summary:
The origin of life on Earth required — at some point — the synthesis of a genetic polymer from simple chemicals. The leading candidate for this role is RNA, but although ‘activated’ ribonucleotide molecules (the building blocks of RNA) can polymerize without enzymes, no plausible route had been found by which the […]

Yet another article on how artificial life is just around the corner. This one is from New Scientist: “Second Genesis: Making New Life“.

In the May-June 2009 issue of American Scientist, is a featured article entitled “Origin of Life“  [1]. In summary:
The authors investigate the metabolic evidence, reaction thermodynamics and chemical logic of the primordial autocatalytic cycle and conclude not only that it can explain the origin of life, but also that the appearance of life was very […]

Aloisius Louie’s new book, More Than Life Itself: A Synthetic Continuation in Relational Biology [1], is now listed on Amazon.com. The book is not yet available, but the listing states the publication date as May 31, 2009. On the product page, you can sign up to be notified by email when the book becomes available.
 
[1] […]

Excerpted from The Wall Street Journal:

In Massachusetts, a young woman makes genetically modified E. coli in a closet she converted into a home lab. A part-time DJ in Berkeley, Calif., works in his attic to cultivate viruses extracted from sewage. In Seattle, a grad-school dropout wants to breed algae in a personal biology lab.
These hobbyists […]

Mathematical biologist and former student of Robert Rosen, Aloisius Louie, has written a new book, More Than Life Itself: A Synthetic Continuation in Relational Biology [1], which continues the development of relational biology which began with Nicolas Rashevsky and Robert Rosen. From the two-page book summary:

Biology is a subject concerned with organization of relations.
     Life […]