Posts Tagged ‘December 2016’
About v12n6, 2017 Preview, Thank You!
How did life arise from inorganic molecules? Did it develop in an early Earth primordial soup or was there an extraterrestrial source? Although the answer to the origin of sentient life has yet to be discovered by scientists, the origins of the genetic blueprints for life (e.g. RNA), the workhorses of life (e.g. proteins), and the protective membranes for life (e.g. lipids) are rapidly being uncovered.
Read MoreSomething Old is Something New
Looking back, my tenure finishes near to where it began—with a focus on mineral–water interfaces (Elements, “Mineral–Water Interactions,” v9n3, 2013). A recurring theme throughout the current issue is that chemical reactions at mineral surfaces likely had a role in sparking what we now experience as complex living systems. Indeed, mineral−water interfaces may reside at the heart of the ultimate scientific question—“What is the origin of life on Earth?”
Read More2016 Day Medalist — Donald B. Dingwell
Donald B. Dingwell (Director of the Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, Ludwig-Maximilian-University in Munich, Germany) is the 2016 Arthur Louis Day Medallist of the Geological Society of America (GSA).
Read MoreForeign Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada — David Vaughan
David Vaughan, Research Professor of Mineralogy at the University of Manchester (UK), has achieved the rare distinction of being elected a Foreign Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada (RSC), that country’s national academy.
Read MoreAWG Outstanding Educator Award — Barbara Dutrow
Barbara (Barb) Dutrow, the Adolphe G. Gueymard Professor of Geology at Louisiana State University (USA), has received the 2016 Outstanding Educator Award from the American Women in Geosciences, this organization’s premier professional award. The award honors women who are well-established college or university teachers who have played a significant role in the education and support of geoscientists within and beyond the classroom, in advancing the persistence of females and underrepresented minorities in geoscience careers, and in raising the general profile of the geosciences. The award was presented to Barb at the September 2016 Geological Society of America meeting in Denver (Colorado, USA).
Read MoreGeoCUR 2016 Undergraduate Research Mentor Award — Wendy Bohrson
Wendy Bohrson, Professor of Geological Sciences at Central Washington University (USA), has been awarded the 2016 Undergraduate Research Mentor Award by the Geoscience Division of the Council on Undergraduate Research (GeoCUR). This annual award recognizes not only exceptional
ability in maintaining good student–faculty relations but also in developing innovative approaches to undergraduate-level research.
On the Emergence of a Proto-Metabolism and the Assembly of Early Protocells
Life as we know it is completely dependent on metal ions. Gradients of metal ions drive metabolism, metal centers often form the active sites of enzymes, and metal-ion coordination is largely responsible for protein and RNA folding. This dependence on metal ions likely reflects the environment from which cellular life emerged. However, long chain biological polymers were not present on prebiotic Earth. Therefore, the chemical reactions leading to Earth’s first cells must have made use of alternative catalysts that were later superseded by RNA and protein. Here, we discuss the similarities between free metal ions, minerals, and biological enzyme catalysts, and how cellular life could have exploited prebiotic metallocomplexes.
Read MoreMetal Catalysts and the Origin of Life
Life as we know it is completely dependent on metal ions. Gradients of metal ions drive metabolism, metal centers often form the active sites of enzymes, and metal-ion coordination is largely responsible for protein and RNA folding. This dependence on metal ions likely reflects the environment from which cellular life emerged. However, long chain biological polymers were not present on prebiotic Earth. Therefore, the chemical reactions leading to Earth’s first cells must have made use of alternative catalysts that were later superseded by RNA and protein. Here, we discuss the similarities between free metal ions, minerals, and biological enzyme catalysts, and how cellular life could have exploited prebiotic metallocomplexes.
Read MoreFrom Foundation Stones to Life: Concepts and Results
Systems consisting of mineral surfaces, water, salts and organic molecules are considered to be plausible models of early Earth’s prebiotic environments. The probable involvement of clays, highly soluble minerals, sulfides and other minerals at the beginning of life have spurred a number of experimental studies to investigate organic molecule adsorption, polymerization and catalytic reactions of relevance to prebiotic chemistry. This article reviews current ideas in how life originated, summarises experimental results and presents some of the existing challenges that still beset the field of the origins of life.
Read MoreIncubating Life: Prebiotic Sources of Organics for the Origin of Life
The onset of life on Earth was preceded by prebiotic chemistry in which complex organic molecules were formed from simpler ones in the presence of energy sources. These prebiotic organics were either synthesized on Earth itself (endogenously) or synthesized extraterrestrially (exogenously) and then delivered to Earth. Organics have been detected in space and have been successfully synthesized under experimental conditions simulating both extraterrestrial environments and early Earth environments. Homochirality and enantiomeric enrichment of organic molecules, which were once considered to be biosignatures, can, in fact, be achieved abiotically. It is important to determine conditions that allow the formation of prebiotic organics and those that preserve them against degradation.
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