Jim_Day.XSIS@xerox.com (12/14/90)
An article on page 28 of the December issue of Discover magazine discusses the work of MIT chemist Julius Rebek. Rebek has developed a synthetic organic molecule capable of reproducing itself. This molecule, named amino adenosine triacid ester (AATE), consists of an amine and an ester, as the name implies. When added to a chloroform solution of amines and esters, AATE captures the components needed to replicate itself. Thermal motion of the solution then separates the original molecule from the copy. Under ideal conditions, AATE can reproduce itself 1,000,000 times in one second. Rebek is currently working on more sophisticated self-replicating molecules.