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Addressing the emergence of life from a systems biology perspective, this new edition has undergone extensive revision, reflecting changes in scientific understanding and evolution of thought on the question 'what is life?'. With an emphasis on the philosophical aspects of science, including the epistemic features of modern synthetic biology, and also providing an updated view of the autopoiesis/cognition theory, the book gives an exhaustive treatment of the biophysical properties of vesicles, seen as the beginning of the 'road map' to the minimal cell - a road map which will develop into the question of whether and to what extent synthetic biology will be capable of making minimal life in the laboratory. Fully illustrated, accessibly written, directly challenging the reader with provocative questions, offering suggestions for research proposals, and including dialogues with contemporary authors such as Humberto Maturana, Albert Eschenmoser and Harold Morowitz, this is an ideal resource for researchers and students across fields including bioengineering, evolutionary biology, molecular biology, chemistry and chemical engineering.
List of contents
Part I. Approaches to the Origin of Life: 1. Setting the stage; 2. The hardware; 3. Ascending the ramp of complexity; 4. Experimental approaches to the origins of life; 5. Origin of life from ground zero; Part II. What Is Life? The Bio-Logics of Cellular Life: 6. Autopoiesis - the invariant property; 7. Cognition; Part III. Order and Organization in Biological Systems: 8. Self-organization; 9. The notion of emergence; 10. Self-replication and self-reproduction; Part IV. The World of Vesicles: 11. The various types of surfactant aggregates; 12. Vesicle reactivity and transformations; 13. Biochemistry and molecular biology in vesicles; Part V. Towards the Synthetic Biology of Minimal Cells: 14. A panoramic view of synthetic biology; 15. The minimal cell.
About the author
Pier Luigi Luisi is Professor Emeritus at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology, Zurich (ETHZ) in Switzerland, where he developed his professional career, notably initiating Cortona Week in 1985. He has also held the position of Professor in Biochemistry at the University of Rome 3. He has authored more than 500 peer-reviewed papers as well as a number of books, including The Systems View of Life (with Fritjof Capra, Cambridge, 2014).
Summary
Addressing the origins of biological and synthetic life from a systems biology perspective, this new edition has undergone an extensive revision and includes greater coverage of synthetic biology. Unique to this edition are discussions with contemporaries in the field, demonstrating an evolution of thought on the question 'what is life?'.
Report
'It is ten years since Professor Luisi's classic book The Emergence of Life appeared. It is highly welcome therefore that this second edition will explain many of the important advances that have occurred in the last decade. With his profound systems approach, Professor Luisi is better placed than anyone to do this. He also includes valuable interviews with other leading systems scientists. Highly recommended for those working in and interested in this growing field.' Denis Noble, University of Oxford
