In Nature Chemistry, researchers from the University of Groningen present a minimal system of two self-replicating ring structures capable of Darwinian evolution.  

Step by step, the group of Sijbren Otto, professor of systems chemistry at the University of Groningen, adds another property or pathway to their molecular system that should eventually - albeit at a very basic level - start behaving like a living entity.   

Their latest addition: eco-evolutionary dynamics. Put differently; an interaction between molecules and environment that allows Darwinian evolution. Survival of the fittest in a fume hood.