Self-replicating systems

Abstract

Over the past 25 years, there has been a surge of development in research towards self-replication and self-replicating systems. The interest in these systems relates to one of the most fundamental questions posed in all fields of science – How did life on earth begin? Investigating how the self-replication process evolved may hold the key to understanding the emergence and evolution of living systems and, ultimately, gain a clear insight into the origin of life on earth. This introductory review aims to highlight the fundamental prerequisites of self-replication along with the important research that has been conducted over the past few decades.