Scientists have taken an important step towards the possibility of creating synthetic life with the development of a form of artificial evolution in a simple chemistry set without DNA.<br><br>A team from the University of Glasgow’s School of Chemistry report in a new paper in the journal Nature Communications today (Monday 8 December) on how they have managed to create an evolving chemical system for the first time. The process uses a robotic ‘aid’ and could be used in the future to ‘evolve’ new chemicals capable of performing specific tasks.<br><br><a href="http://www.gla.ac.uk/news/headline_382476_en.html">READ MORE ON THE UNIVERSITY OF GLASGOW</a><br><br>Ref: Evolution of oil droplets in a chemorobotic platform | Juan Manuel Parrilla Gutierrez, Trevor Hinkley, James Ward Taylor, Kliment Yanev & Leroy Cronin | Nature Communications 5, Article number: 5571 <a href="http://www.nature.com/ncomms/2014/141208/ncomms6571/full/ncomms6571.html#f1">doi:10.1038/ncomms6571</a>
