Emergent robustness in competition between autocatalytic chemical networks.

The origin of auto-catalytic networks has been proposed as an initial step in pre-biotic evolution. It is possible to derive simple models where auto-catalytic networks naturally arise from simple chemical mixtures. In order for such a system to develop, there needs to be some degree of stability, what is characterised as ;robustness'. We demonstrate that competing systems generate this robustness as they create a distributed network of catalytic pathways.