Abstract
Populations of RNA replicators are a conceptually simple model to study evolutionary processes. Their prime applications comprise molecular evolution such as observed in viral populations, SELEX experiments, or the study of the origin and early evolution of life. Nevertheless, due to their simplicity compared to living organisms, they represent a paradigmatic model for Darwinian evolution as such. In this chapter, we review some properties of RNA populations in evolution, and focus on the structure of the underlying neutral networks, intimately related to the sequence-structure map for RNA molecules.
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Acknowledgements
The authors are indebted to S. Manrubia for useful discussions and comments on the manuscript. JA acknowledges financial support from Spanish MICINN (projects FIS2011-27569 and FIS2014-57686). MS acknowledges financial support from Spanish MICINN (project FIS2011-27569).
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Aguirre, J., Stich, M. (2016). Modeling of Evolving RNA Replicators. In: Carballido-Landeira, J., Escribano, B. (eds) Nonlinear Dynamics in Biological Systems. SEMA SIMAI Springer Series, vol 7. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-33054-9_1
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