scholarly journals Implications of extraterrestrial material on the origin of life

2015 ◽  
Vol 11 (A29B) ◽  
pp. 431-435 ◽  
Author(s):  
Matthew A. Pasek
Keyword(s):  
Origin Of Life ◽  
Building Material ◽  
Organic Material ◽  
Prebiotic Chemistry ◽  
Prebiotic Molecules ◽  
The Origin Of Life ◽  
Hydrolysis Of ◽  
Extraterrestrial Material ◽  
Endogenous Synthesis

AbstractMeteoritic organic material may provide the best perspective on prebiotic chemistry. Meteorites have also been invoked as a source of prebiotic material. This study suggests a caveat to extraterrestrial organic delivery: that prebiotic meteoritic organics were too dilute to promote prebiotic reactions. However, meteoritic material provides building material for endogenous synthesis of prebiotic molecules, such as by hydrolysis of extraterrestrial organic tars, and corrosion of phosphide minerals.

scholarly journals Meteor Storms as a Window on the Delivery of Extraterrestrial Organic Matter to the Early Earth

2004 ◽  
Vol 213 ◽  
pp. 281-288
Author(s):  
P. Jenniskens
Keyword(s):  
Organic Matter ◽  
Origin Of Life ◽  
Prebiotic Chemistry ◽  
Early Earth ◽  
Rarefied Flow ◽  
Physical Conditions ◽  
Prebiotic Molecules ◽  
The Origin Of Life ◽  
Recent Insight

The unique rarefied flow and flash heating in meteors creates physical conditions that can change exogenous organic matter into unique prebiotic molecules. with the exception of rare giant comet impacts, most infalling matter at the time of the origin of life was deposited in the atmosphere during the meteor phase. Much new data has been obtained from observations in the Leonid Multi-Instrument Aircraft Campaign; a series of NASA and USAF sponsored Astrobiology missions that explored the 1998–2002 Leonid meteor storms. Here, we provide an overview of some of this recent insight, which provides a framework in which the prebiotic chemistry can be studied.

scholarly journals Scum of the Earth: A Hypothesis for Prebiotic Multi-Compartmentalised Environments

Life ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (9) ◽  
pp. 976
Author(s):  
Craig Robert Walton ◽  
Oliver Shorttle
Keyword(s):  
Origin Of Life ◽  
Prebiotic Chemistry ◽  
Near Surface ◽  
Microbial Biofilms ◽  
The Earth ◽  
Rock Record ◽  
Universal Feature ◽  
The Origin Of Life ◽  
New Hypothesis ◽  
Surface Environment

Compartmentalisation by bioenergetic membranes is a universal feature of life. The eventual compartmentalisation of prebiotic systems is therefore often argued to comprise a key step during the origin of life. Compartments may have been active participants in prebiotic chemistry, concentrating and spatially organising key reactants. However, most prebiotically plausible compartments are leaky or unstable, limiting their utility. Here, we develop a new hypothesis for an origin of life environment that capitalises upon, and mitigates the limitations of, prebiotic compartments: multi-compartmentalised layers in the near surface environment—a ’scum’. Scum-type environments benefit from many of the same ensemble-based advantages as microbial biofilms. In particular, scum layers mediate diffusion with the wider environments, favouring preservation and sharing of early informational molecules, along with the selective concentration of compatible prebiotic compounds. Biofilms are among the earliest traces imprinted by life in the rock record: we contend that prebiotic equivalents of these environments deserve future experimental investigation.

Proliferating droplets formed via prebiotic polymerisation: the missing link between chemistry and biology on the origin of life

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Muneyuki Matsuo ◽  
Kensuke Kurihara
Keyword(s):  
Phase Separation ◽  
Origin Of Life ◽  
Self Assembly ◽  
Primitive Cell ◽  
Material Development ◽  
Steady Growth ◽  
Prebiotic Molecules ◽  
The Origin Of Life ◽  
Acid Thioesters ◽  
Liquid Liquid Phase Separation

Abstract The hypothesis that prebiotic molecules were transformed into polymers that evolved into proliferating molecular assemblages and eventually a primitive cell was first proposed about a hundred years ago. However, no proliferating model prebiotic system has yet been realised because different conditions are required for polymer generation and self-assembly of polymers. In this study, we identified conditions suitable for concurrent peptide generation and self-assembly, and we showed how a proliferating peptide-based droplet could be created by using synthesised amino acid thioesters as prebiotic monomers. Oligopeptides generated from the monomers spontaneously formed droplets through liquid–liquid phase separation in water. The droplets underwent a steady growth–division cycle by periodic addition of monomers through autocatalytic self-reproduction. Heterogeneous enrichment of RNA and lipids within droplets enabled RNA to protect the droplet from dissolution by lipids. These results provide experimental platforms for origin-of-life research and open up novel directions in peptide-based material development.

scholarly journals Prebiotic Chemistry in the Wild: How Geology Interferes with the Origins of Life

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Craig Walton ◽  
Paul B. Rimmer ◽  
Helen Williams ◽  
Oliver Shorttle
Keyword(s):  
Origin Of Life ◽  
Water Activity ◽  
Parameter Space ◽  
Prebiotic Chemistry ◽  
Effective Means ◽  
Adenosine Monophosphate ◽  
Experimental Models ◽  
Dehydration Reactions ◽  
The Origin Of Life ◽  
Reaction Schemes

A plausible explanation for the origin of life must satisfy constraints imposed by both organic chemistry and early Earth geochemistry. However, the full scope of geochemical parameter space is rarely considered by either theoretical or experimental models of abiogenesis. Here we propose a novel approach, which can make maximum use of available data. We posit that constructive and destructive geochemical interferences with proposed prebiotic reaction schemes can be used to restrict plausible environmental parameter space for the origin of life. Our approach is demonstrated by exploring parameter space for dehydration reactions. Such reactions are universally important in extant biochemistry and all proposed prebiotic reaction schemes, yet challenging to perform under plausible conditions. We specifically explore a minimal pathway for RNA synthesis (formaldehyde; ribose; ribose phosphate; adenosine monophosphate; RNA). Based on assembled thermodynamic and geochemical constraints, we identify that low water activity is a key constructive interference in prebiotic chemistry. Critically, the manner in which low water activity is achieved can strongly discriminate between different environmental scenarios. Exploring interference chemistry is hence an effective means of discriminating between competing origin of life scenarios.

scholarly journals Scum of the Earth: a hypothesis for prebiotic multi-compartmentalised environments}

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Craig Walton ◽  
Oliver Shorttle
Keyword(s):  
Origin Of Life ◽  
Prebiotic Chemistry ◽  
Near Surface ◽  
Microbial Biofilms ◽  
The Earth ◽  
Rock Record ◽  
Universal Feature ◽  
The Origin Of Life ◽  
New Hypothesis ◽  
Surface Environment

Compartmentalisation by bioenergetic membranes is a universal feature of life. The eventual compartmentalisation of prebiotic systems is therefore often argued to comprise a key step during the origin of life. Compartments may have been active participants in prebiotic chemistry, concentrating and spatially organising key reactants. However, most prebiotically plausible compartments are leaky or unstable, limiting their utility. Here, we develop a new hypothesis for an origin of life environment, that capitalises upon, and mitigates the limitations of, prebiotic compartments: multi-compartmentalised layers in the near surface environment --- a 'scum'. Scum-type environments benefit from many of the same ensemble-based advantages as microbial biofilms. In particular, scum layers mediate diffusion with the wider environment, favouring preservation and sharing of early informational molecules, along with the selective concentration of compatible prebiotic compounds. Biofilms are among the earliest traces imprinted by life in the rock record: we contend that prebiotic equivalents of these environments deserve future experimental investigation.

scholarly journals Chemical Diversity of Metal Sulfide Minerals and Its Implications for the Origin of Life

Life ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 8 (4) ◽  
pp. 46 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yamei Li ◽  
Norio Kitadai ◽  
Ryuhei Nakamura
Keyword(s):  
Origin Of Life ◽  
Prebiotic Chemistry ◽  
Metal Sulfide ◽  
Sulfide Minerals ◽  
Chemical Diversity ◽  
Metal Sulfides ◽  
Learning Approaches ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
The Origin Of Life ◽  
Catalytic Functions

Prebiotic organic synthesis catalyzed by Earth-abundant metal sulfides is a key process for understanding the evolution of biochemistry from inorganic molecules, yet the catalytic functions of sulfides have remained poorly explored in the context of the origin of life. Past studies on prebiotic chemistry have mostly focused on a few types of metal sulfide catalysts, such as FeS or NiS, which form limited types of products with inferior activity and selectivity. To explore the potential of metal sulfides on catalyzing prebiotic chemical reactions, here, the chemical diversity (variations in chemical composition and phase structure) of 304 natural metal sulfide minerals in a mineralogy database was surveyed. Approaches to rationally predict the catalytic functions of metal sulfides are discussed based on advanced theories and analytical tools of electrocatalysis such as proton-coupled electron transfer, structural comparisons between enzymes and minerals, and in situ spectroscopy. To this end, we introduce a model of geoelectrochemistry driven prebiotic synthesis for chemical evolution, as it helps us to predict kinetics and selectivity of targeted prebiotic chemistry under “chemically messy conditions”. We expect that combining the data-mining of mineral databases with experimental methods, theories, and machine-learning approaches developed in the field of electrocatalysis will facilitate the prediction and verification of catalytic performance under a wide range of pH and Eh conditions, and will aid in the rational screening of mineral catalysts involved in the origin of life.

scholarly journals Wet-dry Cycling Delays the Gelation of Hyperbranched Polyesters: Implications to the Origin of Life

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Irena Mamajanov
Keyword(s):  
Origin Of Life ◽  
Continuous Heating ◽  
Partial Hydrolysis ◽  
Chain Growth ◽  
Hyperbranched Polyesters ◽  
Controlled Systems ◽  
Condensation Polymers ◽  
The Origin Of Life ◽  
Hydrolysis Of ◽  
Gel Transition

In extant biology, biopolymers perform multiple crucial functions. The biopolymers are synthesized by enzyme-controlled biosystems that would not have been available at the earliest stages of chemical evolution and consist of correctly sequenced and/or linked monomers. Some of the abiotic “messy” polymers approximate some functions of biopolymers. Condensation polymers are an attractive search target for abiotic functional polymers since principal polymers of life are produced by condensation and since condensation allows for the accurate construction of high polymers. Herein the formation of hyperbranched polyesters that have been previously used in the construction of enzyme-like catalytic complexes is explored. The experimental setup compares between the branched polyesters prepared under mild continuous heating and the wet-dry cycle conditions. The results reveal that period wetting during which partial hydrolysis of the polyester occurs, helps control the chain growth and retards the gel transition. It is significant to the origin of life studies that environmental, prebiotically plausible conditions could achieve such control without enzymes or a skilled chemist. As expected in marginally controlled systems, the identification of each component of the heterogeneous system has proved challenging, but it is not crucial for drawing the conclusions.

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