Publications on Autocatalytic Networks

Mike Steel

Disclaimer: The listing of papers on this webpage is for my own use. Some of these files are probably covered by publisher copyrights. Please ensure that your institution has the appropriate subscription before reading any of these .pdfs.

- last updated November 2, 2022

39. Hordijk, W., Steel, M. and Kauffman, S. (2022). Autocatalytic sets arising in a combinatorial model of chemical evolution. Life 12(11), 1703. abstract
38. Gabora, L., Beckage, N. and Steel, M. (2021). An autocatalytic network model of conceptual change. Topics in cognitive Science 14: 163-188. doi.org/10.1111/tops.12583.
37. Gabora, L. & Steel, M. (2022) From uncertainty to insight: An autocatalytic framework. In: Uncertainty: A Catalyst for Creativity, Learning and Development (Beghetto, R. & Jaeger, G., Eds.), 125-156, Berlin: Springer
36. Gabora, L and Steel, M. (2021). An evolutionary process without variation and selection. In press (J. Roy. Soc. Interface). BioRxiv. abstract
35. Gabora, L. and Steel, M. (2020). A model of the transition to behavioral and cognitive modernity using reflexively autocatalytic networks. J. R. Soc. Interface.1720200545, doi: 10.1098/rsif.2020.0545. abstract
34. Kauffman, S. and Steel, M. (2021). The expected number of viable autocatalytic sets in chemical reaction systems. Artificial Life 27:1-14, doi: artl_a_00333. abstract
33. Weller-Davies, O., Steel, M. and Hein, J. (2021) Combinatorics of polymer-based models of early metabolism. SIAM Journal of Discrete Mathematics (in press). abstract
32. Steel, M., Xavier, J. C., and Huson, D. H. (2020). The structure of autocatalytic networks, with application to early biochemistry. J. Royal Society Interface, 17: 20200488. doi: 10.1098/rsif.2020.0488. abstract
31. Steel, M., Hordijk, W. and Kauffman, S. (2020). Dynamics of a birth-death process based on combinatorial innovation. J. Theor. Biol. 491: 110187. abstract
30. Weller-Davies, O., Steel, M. and Hein, J. (2020) Complexity results for autocatalytic network models. Mathematical Biosciences. 325(2020): 108365. abstract
29. Gabora, L. and Steel, M. (2020). Modeling a cognitive transition at the origin of cultural evolution using autocatalytic networks. Cognitive Science. 44(9): e12878, doi: 10.1111/cogs.12878. abstract
28. Xavier, J. C., Hordijk, W., Kauffman, S., Steel M. and Martin, W. F. (2020). Autocatalytic chemical networks at the origin of metabolism. Proc. Roy. Soc. B. 287: 20192377, doi: 10.1098/rspb.2019.2377. abstract
27. Hordijk, W., Steel, M. and Kauffman, S. A. (2019). Molecular Diversity Required for the Formation of Autocatalytic Sets. Life 9: 23. abstract
26. Steel, M., Hordijk, W. and Xavier, J. C. (2019). Autocatalytic networks in biology: structural theory and algorithms. J. Royal Society Interface 16: 20180808. abstract
25. Hordijk, W. and Steel, M. (2018). Autocatalytic networks at the basis of life's origin and organization. Life 8(4): 62. abstract
24. Steel, M. and Kauffman, S. (2018). A note on random catalytic branching processes. Journal of Theoretical Biology, 437 222-224. abstract
23. Hordijk, W., Steel, M. and Dittrich, P. (2018). Autocatalytic sets and chemical organizations: Modeling self-sustaining reaction networks at the origin of life. New Journal of Physics 20:015011. abstract
22. Gabora, L. and Steel, M. (2017), Autocatalytic networks in cognition and the origin of culture. J. Theor. Biol. 431: 87-95. abstract
21. Hordijk, W. and Steel, M. (2017). Chasing the tail: The emergence of autocatalytic networks. Biosystems, 152:1-10. abstract
20. Hordijk, W. and Steel, M. (2016). Autocatalytic sets in polymer networks with variable catalysis distributions, J. Math. Chem., 54(10): 1997-2021. abstract
19. Hordijk, W. and Steel, M. (2016). Comment on "Tibor Gánti and Robert Rosen" by Athel Cornish-Bowden. J. Theor. Biol., 392: 122-123. introduction
18. Steel, M. (2015). Self-sustaining autocatalytic networks within open-ended reaction systems. Journal of Mathematical Chemistry, 53(8): 1687-1701. abstract
17. Hordijk, W. and Steel, M. (2015). Autocatalytic sets and boundaries. J. Syst. Chem. 6:1. DOI 10.1186/s13322-014-0006-2. abstract
16. Hordijk, W., Smith, J. I. and Steel, M. (2015). Algorithms for detecting and analysing autocatalytic sets. Algorithms in Molecular Biology 10: 15. abstract
15. Sousa, F.L., Hordijk, W., Steel, M. and Martin, W. (2015). Autocatalytic sets in E. coli metabolism. J. Syst. Chem. 6: 4. abstract
14. Hordijk, W. and Steel, M. (2015). Conditions for evolvability of autocatalytic sets: a formal example and analysis. Origins of Life and Evolution of Biospheres 44(2): 111-124. abstract
13. Smith, J. I., Steel, M. and Hordijk, W. (2014). Autocatalytic sets in a partitioned biochemical network. Journal of Systems Chemistry 5: 2. abstract
12. Hordijk, W., Wills, P. and Steel, M. (2013). Autocatalytic Sets and Biological Specificity. Bulletin of Mathematical Biology 76(1): 201-224. abstract
11. Hordijk, W., Steel, M. and Kauffman. (2013). The origin of life, evolution, and functional organization. pp. 49-60 in Evolutionary Biology: Exobiology and Evolutionary Mechanisms Pierre Pontarotti (Editor), Springer. abstract
10. Steel, M., Hordijk, W., and Smith, J. (2013). Minimal autocatalytic networks. Journal of Theoretical Biology 332: 96-107. abstract
9. Hordijk, W. and Steel, M. (2013). A formal model of autocatalytic sets emerging in an RNA replicator system. J. Systems Chemistry 4:3. abstract
8. Hordijk, W., Steel, M. and Kauffman, S. (2012). The Structure of Autocatalytic Sets: Evolvability, Enablement, and Emergence. Acta Biotheoretica, 60: 379-392. abstract
7. Hordijk, W. and Steel, M. (2012). Autocatalytic Sets Extended: Dynamics, Inhibition, and a Generalization. Journal of Systems Chemistry, 3:5 (in press). abstract
6. Hordijk, W. and Steel, M. (2012). Predicting template-based catalysis rates in a simple catalytic reaction model. Journal of Theoretical Biology 295: 132-138. abstract
5. Hordijk, W., Kauffman, S., and Steel, M. (2011). Required levels of catalysis for the emergence of autocatalytic sets in models of chemical reaction systems. International Journal of Molecular Sciences (Special issue: Origin of Life 2011) 12: 3085-3101. abstract
4. Hordijk, W., Hein, J. and Steel, M. (2010). Autocatalytic Sets and the Origin of Life, Entropy 12(7): 1733-1744. abstract
3. E. Mossel and M. Steel. (2005). Random biochemical networks and the probability of self-sustaining autocatalysis. Journal of Theoretical Biology 233(3), 327-336. abstract
2. W. Hordijk, and M. Steel. (2004). Detecting autocatalyctic, self-sustaining sets in chemical reaction systems. Journal of Theoretical Biology 227(4): 451-461. abstract
1. Steel, M. (2000). The emergence of a self-catalysing structure in abstract origin-of-life models. Applied Mathematics Letters 13 (3): 91-95. abstract