Theoretical origin of life; another take (Introduction)

by David Turell , Thursday, April 16, 2015, 23:35 (3509 days ago) @ David Turell

Another lab experiment to produce amino acids and other compounds, but with no solution to the problem that the formation of RNA is very problematic without enzymes. The fact the bricks are lying around doesn't get you a building. Still interesting:-http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/meteorite-chemicals-may-have-started-life-on-earth-and-space/?WT.mc_id=SA_SPC_20150416-"The molecules that kick-started life on primordial Earth could have been made in space and delivered by meteorites, according to researchers in Italy. The group synthesised sugars, amino acids and nucleobases with nothing more than formamide, meteorite material and the power of a simulated solar wind, replicating a process they believe cooked up a prebiotic soup long before life existed on Earth.-"Formamide is a simple organic compound first suggested as a starting material for the formation of prebiotic biomolecules back in 2001. The chemical has been detected in galactic centres and stellar nurseries, as well as comets and satellites. These latest experiments show that formamide, irradiated by the solar wind—simulated here by a proton beam—and in the presence of powdered meteorites, gave rise to amino acids, carboxylic acids, sugars and nucleosides—the building blocks of DNA and RNA."