STUDIES ON ORDER IN PREBIOLOGICAL SYSTEMS AT THE LABORATORY OF CHEMICAL EVOLUTION

The basic tenet of investigations in the Laboratory of Chemical Evolut ion (LCE) under Cyril Ponnamperuma was that biology is a recapitulatio n of prebiology, and that protobiology is an outcome of simple molecul ar interactions, engendered by the physics and chemistry of the molecu les themselves. Studies were undertaken to continue research into unde rstanding the determining physical and chemical parameters of molecula r interactions leading to increasing complexity in pre-and protobiolog ical systems. Among other, related work, research was performed on the origin of the genetic code, the origin of order in prebiotic polymers , and related studies on the origins of optical activity in biological macromolecules. Highlights of some these studies are presented here.