Figure 2.
Emergence of new coding molecules. (A) Coalescence of oil droplets carrying different self-reproducing coenzymes. (B) Phosphorylation of molecule a, which is stably produced within the chemical community on the surface of oil droplets, results in the emergence of a new coding molecule aP if this reaction is autocatalytic. (C) Polymerization of molecules b catalyzed by self-reproducing molecules a. (D) Simple repetitive polymers facilitate polymerization of identical polymers aligned on the surface of oil droplets. (E) Template-based universal synthesis (i.e., replication) of coding polymers with any aperiodic sequence of monomers.