David Baum
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Spatial structure supports diversity in prebiotic autocatalytic chemical ecosystems Open
Autocatalysis is thought to have played an important role in the earliest stages of the origin of life. An autocatalytic cycle (AC) is a set of reactions that results in stoichiometric increase in its constituent chemicals. When the reacti…
Evolution of complexity and the transition to biochemical life Open
While modern physics and biology satisfactorily explain the passage from the Big Bang to the formation of Earth and the first cells to present-day life, respectively, the origins of biochemical life still remain an open question. Since lif…
From messy chemistry to ecology: autocatalysis and heritability in prebiotically plausible chemical systems Open
A key question in origins-of-life research, is whether heritability, and thus evolution, could have preceded genes. Out-of-equilibrium chemical reaction networks with multiple autocatalytic motifs may provide chemical “memory” and serve as…
Impacts of Climate Change on the Ascension Island Marine Protected Area and Its Ecosystem Services Open
This is the first projection of marine circulation and biogeochemistry for the Ascension Island Marine Protected Area (AIMPA). Marine Protected Areas are a key management tool used to safeguard biodiversity, but their efficacy is increasin…
Evidence of Heritability in Prebiotically Realistic Membrane-Bound Systems Open
The vesicles of short chain amphiphiles have been demonstrated to grow and divide. Here, we explored whether vesicle populations show evidence of heritability. We prepared 1:1 decanoic acid:decylamine vesicles with or without a detergent a…
The ecology–evolution continuum and the origin of life Open
Prior research on evolutionary mechanisms during the origin of life has mainly assumed the existence of populations of discrete entities with information encoded in genetic polymers. Recent theoretical advances in autocatalytic chemical ec…
View article: JAMA Otolaryngology–Head & Neck Surgery
JAMA Otolaryngology–Head & Neck Surgery Open
Mission Statement JAMA Otolaryngology-Head & Neck Surgery provides timely information for physicians and scientists concerned with diseases of the head and neck.Given the diversity of structure and function based in this anatomic region, J…
Searching for heritability in prebiotically realistic membrane-bound systems Open
Membrane-bound compartments are ubiquitous in modern organisms meaning that they evolved early in Earth history. Vesicles composed of short-chain amphiphile molecules are some of the simplest prebiotically-plausible compartments and are ca…
View article: JAMA Otolaryngology–Head & Neck Surgery
JAMA Otolaryngology–Head & Neck Surgery Open
Mission Statement JAMA Otolaryngology-Head & Neck Surgery provides timely information for physicians and scientists concerned with diseases of the head and neck.Given the diversity of structure and function based in this anatomic region, J…
View article: The geometry and combinatorics of an autocatalytic ecology in chemical and cluster chemical reaction networks
The geometry and combinatorics of an autocatalytic ecology in chemical and cluster chemical reaction networks Open
Developing a mathematical understanding of autocatalysis in chemical reaction networks has both theoretical and practical implications. For a class of autocatalysis, which we term stoichiometric autocatalysis, we show that it is possible t…
Polyhedral geometry and combinatorics of an autocatalytic ecosystem Open
Developing a mathematical understanding of autocatalysis in reaction networks has both theoretical and practical implications. We review definitions of autocatalytic networks and prove some properties for minimal autocatalytic subnetworks …
View article: JAMA Otolaryngology–Head & Neck Surgery
JAMA Otolaryngology–Head & Neck Surgery Open
Mission Statement JAMA Otolaryngology-Head & Neck Surgery provides timely information for physicians and scientists concerned with diseases of the head and neck.Given the diversity of structure and function based in this anatomic region, J…
JAMA Otolaryngology–Head & Neck Surgery Open
Mission Statement JAMA Otolaryngology-Head & Neck Surgery provides timely information for physicians and scientists concerned with diseases of the head and neck.Given the diversity of structure and function based in this anatomic region, J…
Spatial Structure Supports Diversity in Prebiotic Autocatalytic Chemical Ecosystems Open
Autocatalysis is thought to have played an important role in the earliest stages of the origin of life. An autocatalytic cycle (AC) is a set of reactions that results in stoichiometric increase in its constituent chemicals. When the reacti…
The hierarchical organization of autocatalytic reaction networks and its relevance to the origin of life Open
Prior work on abiogenesis, the emergence of life from non-life, suggests that it requires chemical reaction networks that contain self-amplifying motifs, namely, autocatalytic cores. However, little is known about how the presence of multi…
View article: Developing the BETTSI: A tree‐thinking diagnostic tool to assess individual elements of representational competence
Developing the BETTSI: A tree‐thinking diagnostic tool to assess individual elements of representational competence Open
Phylogenies are a ubiquitous visual representation of core concepts in evolutionary biology and it is important that students develop an ability to read and correctly interpret these diagrams. However, as with any representation of complex…
JAMA Otolaryngology–Head & Neck Surgery Open
Mission Statement JAMA Otolaryngology-Head & Neck Surgery provides timely information for physicians and scientists concerned with diseases of the head and neck.Given the diversity of structure and function based in this anatomic region, J…
Genetic diversity of Malagasy baobabs: implications for conservation Open
Assessing the genetic diversity of species and populations is critical for evaluating extinction vulnerability and provides important information for identifying populations of concern and/or those that should be targeted for breeding mate…
A mechanism of abiogenesis based on complex reaction networks organized by seed-dependent autocatalytic systems Open
The core of the origin-of-life problem is to explain how a complex dissipative system could emerge spontaneously from a simple environment, perpetuate itself, and complexify over time. This would only be possible, we argue, if prebiotic ch…
A mechanism of abiogenesis based on complex reaction networks organized by seed-dependent autocatalytic systems Open
The core of the origin-of-life problem is to explain how a complex dissipative system could emerge spontaneously from a simple environment, perpetuate itself, and complexify over time. This would only be possible, we argue, if prebiotic ch…
The Prebiotic Kitchen: A Guide to Composing Prebiotic Soup Recipes to Test Origins of Life Hypotheses Open
“Prebiotic soup” often features in discussions of origins of life research, both as a theoretical concept when discussing abiological pathways to modern biochemical building blocks and, more recently, as a feedstock in prebiotic chemistry …
A mechanism of abiogenesis based on complex reaction networks organized by seed-dependent autocatalytic systems Open
The complexity gap between the biotic and abiotic worlds has made explaining abiogenesis one of the hardest scientific questions. A promising strategy for addressing this problem is to identify features shared by abiotic and biotic chemica…
A mechanism of abiogenesis based on complex reaction networks organized by seed-dependent autocatalytic systems Open
The complexity gap between the biotic and abiotic worlds has made explaining abiogenesis one of the hardest scientific questions. A promising strategy for addressing this problem is to identify features shared by abiotic and biotic chemica…
A mechanism of abiogenesis based on complex reaction networks organized by seed-dependent autocatalytic systems Open
The complexity gap between the biotic and abiotic worlds has made explaining abiogenesis one of the hardest scientific questions. A promising strategy for addressing this problem is to identify features shared by abiotic and biotic chemica…
A mechanism of abiogenesis based on complex reaction networks organized by seed-dependent autocatalytic systems Open
The complexity gap between the biotic and abiotic worlds has made explaining abiogenesis one of the hardest scientific questions. A promising strategy for addressing this problem is to identify features shared by abiotic and biotic chemica…
A mechanism of abiogenesis based on complex reaction networks organized by seed-dependent autocatalytic systems Open
Life is the canonical example of a complex system, consisting of diverse chemical components that are organized in a specific way that allows perpetuation of the living state. In contrast, the abiotic environment, which life feeds on and o…
A mechanism of abiogenesis based on complex reaction networks organized by seed-dependent autocatalytic systems Open
Life is the canonical example of a complex system, consisting of diverse chemical components that are organized in a specific way that allows perpetuation of the living state. In contrast, the abiotic environment, which life feeds on and o…
View article: BETTSI - Basic Evolutionary Tree-Thinking Skills Instrument
BETTSI - Basic Evolutionary Tree-Thinking Skills Instrument Open
A short, multiple choice diagnostic designed to provide instructors with a quick check on students’ understanding of and ability to read and interpret phylogenies.