Mark I. Vuletic

Last updated 21 March 2008

Analysis

(i) This is true, but irrelevant to origin-of-life research, since no origin-of-life researcher supposes that modern enzymes and DNA strands came into existence all at once by pure chance. As Iris Fry explains, "origin-of-life theories rely on various organizing principles, including selection mechanisms and catalysis, that are supposed to have limited and constrained the wide scope of prebiotic chemical possibilities, thus constructing the scaffolding out of which the living arch eventually emerged" (Fry 2000:196).

(ii) It is also worth pointing out, of course, that enzymes with many different configurations can have identical or similar effects, meaning that no one particular enzyme must necessarily be generated in order to carry out a specific function.

References

Fry I. 2000. The Emergence of Life on Earth: A Historical and Scientific Overview. New BrunswIck: Rutgers University Press.