[ad_1]
In a hen-and-egg problem, scientists have never been sure how the very first living cell – and thus the simplest form of life – was born.
It would be necessary to somehow build without any "code" pre-existing to tell him how.
The researchers presented new evidence that phosphates – an essential part of the "backbone" of DNA – came from meteorites or comets in space.
"On Earth, phosphine is deadly to living things," said lead author Andrew Turner, a professor at the University of Pikeville, in the September issue of Nature Communications.
"In the interstellar medium, an exotic phosphine chemistry can favor rare chemical reaction pathways …"
Professor Andrew Turner
"But in the interstellar medium, exotic phosphine chemistry can promote rare chemical reaction pathways to initiate the formation of bioreligious molecules such as phosphorus oxoacids, which could eventually trigger the molecular evolution of life as we know it. . "
In simpler terms, the chemical reactions that would be impossible to produce naturally on Earth have the right conditions in space.
Scientists used a high vacuum chamber cooled to an icy cold of -268 ° C (the minimum possible temperature, "absolute zero", is -273 ° C) to reproduce the spatial conditions.
They simulated cosmic rays using high energy electrons, then phosphoric acid (acid portion of DNA – deoxyribonucleic acid) and diphosphoric acid formed from phosphine, carbon dioxide and water.
Professors Andrew Turner and Ralf Kaiser, from the University of Hawaii at Manoa, worked with Cornelia Meinert from the University of Nice and Agnes Chang from Dong Hwa National University in Taiwan.
Source link
