for example, the replication of a strand of DNA is characterised by an autocatalytic set of reactions. These autocatalytic reaction networks are prevalent in many important prebiotic syntheses. For example, the formose reaction, shown in Figure (C), involves the formation of sugars, particularly aldose sugars like ribose, from the reaction of formaldehyde, or its derivatives, with glycolaldehyde. The formose reaction is described as autocatalytic due to the regeneration of glycolaldehyde. Although not fully understood it is thought that the reaction starts with the combination of glycolaldehyde and formaldehyde, producing glyceraldehyde. After further reactions glyceraldehyde then reacts with another molecule of formaldehyde producing compounds which eventually break down into two molecules of glycolaldehyde. These glycolaldehyde molecules can then re-enter the reaction. Despite the promising nature of this reaction scheme, the formose reaction is notoriously unstable, and the autocatalytic potential of this network can be difficult to manifest. The plausibility of this mechanism in a natural environment can be assessed by modeling its kinetics. If the rate of reaction for the combination of formaldehyde with glycolaldehyde is much faster than the combination of formaldehyde with the glyceraldehyde derivative, then the regeneration of glycolaldehyde would not be possible as all of the formaldehyde in the system would be used up. In addition, if Cannizzaro reactions are favored in an environment, the intermediates will all end up as alcohols and carboxylic acids (see Figure (C)). By studying the kinetics involved in each step of this reaction we can assess what reactions will dominate.