The origin of heredity is studied as a recursive state in a replicatingprotocell consisting of many molecule species in mutually catalyzingreaction networks. Protocells divide when the number of molecules, increasing due to replication, exceeds a certain threshold. We study how the chemicals in a catalytic network can form recursive production states in the presence of errors in the replication...

At the turn of the twentieth century, William Bateson [3] studied organismal variation and heredity of traits within the framework of evolutionary theory in England. Bateson applied Gregor Mendel's work to Charles Darwin [4]'s theory of evolution [5] and coined the term genetics for a new biological discipline. By studying variation and advocating Mendelian genetics, Bateson furthered the field...