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BEHAVIORAL CHEMISTRY. "When the molecules involved are complex enough to attain a stochastic element to their structural conformation in such a way as to radically affect their function in a biological (evolvable) setting, then they have the capacity to behave, and the analysis of such molecular-level behavior would be described as behavioral chemistry. Behavioral chemistry is derived from two processes, either or both of which can be in operation at any given point in time." http://www.mdpi.com/2075-1729/2/4/313/htm View in LinkedIn

MUTATION. "The ability to mutate in a discrete or quantized way, without frequent reversion, may be an additional requirement for Darwinian evolution." http://pubs.acs.org/doi/abs/10.1021/ar200325v View in LinkedIn

STANDARD ASSUMPTIONS. "When scientists think about the replication of information in chemistry, they usually have in mind something akin to what happens in living organisms when DNA gets copied." https://lnkd.in/dF6far5 View in LinkedIn

REPLICATION OF INFORMATION. "The key to the origins of life is the replication of information. Linear polymers such as nucleic acids that both carry information and can be replicated are currently what we consider to be the basis of living systems." https://lnkd.in/drTPyYN View in LinkedIn

GENOTYPE + PHENOTYPE = BEHAVIOR. "Once Nature had the capacity to synthesize information-bearing macromolecules though, the stochasticity of the system became embodied into the “behavior” of the molecules because now there was the possibility that a molecule was the system! In essence, a system requires both a genotype and a phenotype to be able to display behavior." http://www.mdpi.com/2075-1729/2/4/313/htm View in LinkedIn

PREBIOTIC CHEMISTRY. "The formose reaction is both notoriously complex and has the feature of autocatalysis, making it of prebiotic importance. It is in fact the best known example of a self-organized chemical cycle that bears on the origins of life but is absent of genetic material." http://www.mdpi.com/2075-1729/2/4/313/htm View in LinkedIn

INFORMATION. "One of the most interesting capabilities of living systems is processing information." http://jeb.biologists.org/content/216/20/3799 View in LinkedIn

NEW BRAIN. "Planarian flatworms are a popular system for research into the molecular mechanisms that enable these complex organisms to regenerate their entire body, including the brain." https://lnkd.in/dy37eKV View in LinkedIn

REGENERATIVE EXPERT. "Freshwater planarians can perform all manner of amazing tricks when it comes to regeneration. Thomas Hunt Morgan was one of the first people to systematically study planarian regeneration in the late 19th century. Inspired by the observations of Harriet Randolph, he defined the minimal size of a fragment capable of regeneration as 1/279th of the intact animal’s volume." https://lnkd.in/deKxCqJ View in LinkedIn

EQUIVOCAL SPECIES. "This experiment intended to show that memory could be transferred chemically. The experiment was repeated with mice, fish, and rats, but it always failed to produce the same results. The perceived explanation was that rather than memory being transferred to the other animals, it was the hormones in the ingested ground animals that changed the behavior. McConnell believed that this was evidence of a chemical basis for memory, which he identified as memory RNA." https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Planarian View in LinkedIn