The Hypercycle: A Principle of Natural Self-Organization

This book originated from a series of papers published in “Die Naturwissenschaften” in 1977178. Its division into three parts is the reflection of a logic structure, which may be abstracted in the form of three theses: A. Hypercycles are a principle of natural selforganization allowing an inte­ gration and coherent evolution of a set of functionally coupled self-rep­ locative entities. B. Hypercycles are a novel class of nonlinear reaction networks with unique properties amenable to a unified mathematical treatment. C. Hypercycles can originate in the mutant distribution of a single Darwinian quasi-species by stabilizing its diverging mutant genes. Once nucleated, hypercycles evolve to higher complexity by a process analogous to gene duplication and specialization. To outline the meaning of the first statement, we may refer to another principle of material self-organization, namely Darwin’s principle of natural selection. As we see it today, this principle represents the only understood means for creating information, be it the blueprint for a complex living organism that evolved from less complex ancestral forms or a meaningful sequence of letters, the selection of which can be simulated by evolutionary model games.