Related Experiment Video
Updated: May 17, 2026

Sealable Femtoliter Chamber Arrays for Cell-free Biology
Published on: March 11, 2015
The importance of stochastic transitions for the origin of life
1Origins Institute and Department of Physics and Astronomy, McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario L8S 4M1, Canada. higgsp@mcmaster.ca
Abstract:
We discuss the origin of life in terms of an RNA World scenario in which the creation of autocatalytic sequences is the key step. Our computational models illustrate that life arises by a rare stochastic event that occurs due to spatially localized concentration fluctuations. This allows the chemical system to jump from a non-living state with very low ribozyme concentration to a living state that is controlled by ribozymes. Once the living state is established locally, it can spread deterministically through the rest of the system. These are generic features also possessed by more complex models with a greater degree of chemical realism.
Related Concept Videos
Origin of Cellular Life
Conditions on Early Earth
Conditions on Early Earth
Origin of Photosynthesis
Evolution of New Traits in Microbes
Transition State Theory

