SESSION IV. DISCUSSION 369 



that the polymerization occurred, not on the level of individual compounds, but on the 

 level of an aggregate of their precursors. There is, for example, the question of which 

 came first, nucleic acids or proteins. Might one not suppose that they arose at the same 

 time in mutual interdependence ? This idea is in accord with Hoffmann-Ostenhof 's 

 hypothesis concerning the origin of the enzymic activity of proteins. This idea is, perhaps, 

 contradicted by the well-known fact that proteins, in the chemically isolated state, com- 

 bine very easily with nucleic acids. It is, therefore, not hard to imagine that, in the distant 

 past, they began to combine as they were formed. Similar considerations can also be applied 

 to the functional bonds between other compounds. All the same, the question remains — 

 How did there arise in the past that capacity for combining which we know so well today ? 

 It seems to me that if we were to assimie the possibility which I have just put forward, it 

 would be far easier to picture the high reactivity of coacervates. Of course, it might not be 

 possible to answer the question : Which came first, nucleic acids or proteins ? or a nvunber 

 of questions of the same sort. However, this is the hypothesis or, better, the question. I 

 still think that yet one more should be added to the questions put forward by Prof. Bemal, 

 namely : At what stage in the development of Uving matter did there arise that tremendous 

 wealth of functional, chemical and other Unkages in the separate units of living systems; 

 was it before or after their polymerization ? It seems to me that such an idea would be 

 of great importance for the further study of the origin of living material. It would help us 

 in our search for the earlier stages in the development, not only of individual compounds, 

 but of the functional associations, the abundance of which is characteristic of living material. 



E. N. Pavlovskii (U.S.S.R.): 



The 15th International Congress of Zoology will be held in London in 1958. It will 

 celebrate the centenary of the publication of that work of genius by Charles Darwin, 

 The Origin of Species. 



In his introductory remarks to our present symposivun Oparin emphasized that evo- 

 lutionary studies, as they are generally understood, began with the acceptance of the 

 concept of the spontaneous generation of organisms. However, neither species of animals nor 

 species of plants can be engendered as such. The process of evolution of organisms was 

 preceded by a period of formation of orgam'c material which had the power of metaboUsm 

 in its most primitive form. Darwin did not touch on this aspect of evolution. This was no 

 fault of Darwin's. The state of natural-historical science in his time did not allow him to 

 formulate this question in such a way that it could be treated in real terms. The concept 

 of the spontaneous generation of organisms must not be taken Uterally. It was xmderstood 

 to mean the spontaneous generation of some primitive creatures. Their further evolution 

 led to the appearance of animals and plants. 



The state of natural-historical science at present has enabled us to formulate a vast, new 

 problem, that of the origin and development of the hving material from which the primi- 

 tive orgamsms were formed. 



This is the aspect of the matter which is being discussed at our present Symposium. 

 The problem of the formation of Hving material is, by its nature, the precursor of any 

 consideration of the evolution of life in the forms in which it actually exists on the Earth. 

 This connection is extremely important and should be reflected on the organizational 

 level. As president of the organizing committee preparing for the participation of the 

 Soviet delegation of zoologists to the 15th International Congress of Zoology, I should 

 like to raise the question of whether the fundamental facts discussed by our present 

 Symposium have been reported to the zoological congress which is celebrating the cen- 

 tenary of the publication of Charles Darwin's work. The Origin of Species. In this way a 

 link would be made between investigation of the origin of life and that of the phylogenetic 

 evolution of species of plants and animals. 



But this is not all. In the process of formation of living material and the performance 

 of its cardinal function of metabolism, there also came into being, of course, its various 

 physiological functions. This was associated with the morphological individualization of 

 the earliest organisms and with their subsequent evolution. Within physiology evolutionary 

 physiology has developed, as well as comparative physiology; in morphology and com- 



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