Scientists have just found a new theory about the origin of life on Earth

In a pioneering experiment conducted in the early 1950s. scientist tried to recreate the conditions primeval earth in vitro.

Stanley Miller He placed several simple ingredients believed to be circulating in the young planet’s atmosphere and oceans into interconnected flasks, heated them, and subjected them to electric currents to simulate lightning. The results were not long in coming: from this primordial soup arose amino acidschemical components of life.

The discovery began the search for chemistry And biology design experiments that could help answer one of the biggest scientific questions facing humanity: How did life begin on Earth?

Now, scientists belonging Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich given an exciting step forward demonstrating how more complex molecules critical to life could be synthesized from basic ingredients primeval earth.

In his study published in the journal Nature, scientists They replaced the test tubes with tiny networks of branching cracks, reminiscent of those that form naturally in rocks. They made the water flow through cracks along with key chemical components, and then applied heat, simulating a process similar to what might occur near hydrothermal vents in the ocean or in porous rocks near a geothermal pool.

They found that heat passing through these geological networks sorts and filters molecules. helping them create longer chains calls biopolymers which are necessary for life. “This is a fantastic demonstration that simple physical processes can produce things like this,” he said. Matthew PasekProfessor Geosciences belonging University of South Florida who did not participate in the investigation.

The question of how life began is so vast that goes beyond traditional boundaries which divide science into different disciplines. When it comes to answering this question, chemists, biologists, astrophysicists and geologists come to the table.

The unification of these boundaries is what interests Christophe Mastbiophysicist Ludwig Maximilian University of Munichwhose laboratory designed an experimental setup somewhat close to the conditions under which the “prebiotic chemistry” that gave rise to life took place.

For decades, scientists have been faced with a problem that primeval earth This was not a perfect laboratory with beakers, perfectly timed purification steps, and concentrated supplies of ingredients. It’s one thing to recreate the chemistry of life in the laboratory.but the experiments that can be done in a flask may be unlikely at best in the messy conditions of the real world.

“You can imagine a prebiotic Earth, this prebiotic soup that is very diluted and all these different things react in a completely uncontrollable way,” he said. mast.

One problem today is that chemical reactions in the laboratory often produce byproducts that can start their own unwanted reactions, leaving scientists with only tiny amounts of the key material. So how could primeval earth make enough building blocks for life to arise?

To try to find out, the researchers cut an extensive network of interconnected cracks into a tiny piece of an inert substance similar to Teflon call FEP and placed it between two plates Sapphire.

The sapphires were subjected to precise but varying temperatures to create heat flow through the geological network between them, simulating how heat likely flowed into primeval earth, possibly near volcanoes or hydrothermal vents. Next, flow of prepared water and basic chemical components through a network of cracks and watched what was happening.

In a proof-of-concept experiment, they used wisteriathe simplest amino acid, as well as a substance called TMP which can react to the combination of two glycine molecules. These reactions are difficult to occur in water.Explain mastAnd TMP was very rare in primeval earth. When they mixed these ingredients in a beaker or in geological crevices without heat, the amount of more complex biopolymer they created was “negligible,” the researchers said.

But when They applied a heat gradient to the cracks, significantly increased biopolymer production. This is important because although amino acids They are even important they are far from life. The same basic components have been found, for example, in lifeless meteorites. “To get to the next level, you need to start producing polymers: this is a fundamental step for creating the next kingdom of life,” he says. Pasek.

The institution cannot make a decision on the last issue how life began: Was it in the pond since it could exist on the surface Earthor near hydrothermal vents like those found in the deep ocean? In accordance with mastheat flows through rocks can occur in a variety of geological environments and were probably “ubiquitous” in primeval earth.

But the experimental setup could be used to test other aspects of the planet’s primitive chemistry. mast He hopes to then create a network of fractures from geological materials and build larger networks of connected chambers. The study is another reminder of elegant chemistry experiments. They may ignore the main part of the primordial soup: the saucepan.

In 2021 the team scientists discovered that in a famous experiment of the 1950s, the test tube itself, or rather the glass borosilicate what it was made of played a role in the results.

When these scientists They repeated the experiment in a glass flask, in one of Teflon and then in one of Teflon with a small glass borosilicatethey discovered that glass was main ingredient that catalyzes reactions.

“In other words, to cook the “primordial soup”, casserole is important” he wrote in an email Juan Manuel Garcia-Ruizresearch professor International Physical Center of Donostia, Spain, which participated in the experiment. He praised the new work for its creativity and, perhaps most importantly, for being “geologically plausible”.

“It may not be the only mechanism, but it works, it’s brilliant and, above all, it’s experimental demonstration“, said Garcia-Ruiz. “I think we need more experimental approaches to study the geochemical context of the planet when life began.”

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