Ono, Naoaki, and Takashi Ikegami. “Artificial chemistry: Computational studies on the emergence of self-reproducing units.” In European Conference on Artificial Life , pp. 186-195. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg, 2001.
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Acquisition of self-maintenance of cell membranes is an essential step to evolve from molecular to cellular reproduction. In this report, we present a model of artificial chemistry that simulates metabolic reactions, diffusion and repulsion of abstract chemicals in a two-dimensional space to realize the organization of proto-cell structures. It demonstrates that proto-cell structures that maintain and reproduce themselves autonomously emerge from a non-organized initial configuration. The results also suggest that a metabolic system that produces membranes can be selected in the chemical evolution of a pre-cellular stage.