the chemical origin of behavior is rooted in abiogenesis化学起源植根于自然发生的行为.pdfVIP

Life 2012, 2, 313-322; doi:10.3390/life2040313 OPEN ACCESS life ISSN 2075-1729 /journal/life Article The Chemical Origin of Behavior is Rooted in Abiogenesis Brian C. Larson, R. Paul Jensen and Niles Lehman * Department of Chemistry, Portland State University, P.O. Box 751, Portland, OR 97207, USA; E-Mails: bclarson@ (B.C.L.); jensen3@ (R.P.J.) * Author to whom correspondence should be addressed; E-Mail: niles@; Tel.: +1-503-725-8769. Received: 6 August 2012; in revised form: 29 September 2012 / Accepted: 2 November 2012 / Published: 7 November 2012 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. Keywords: behavior; chemistry; free will; RNA; origins of life