The Origin and Early Evolution of Life: Prebiotic Chemistry of Biomolecules
The Origin and Early Evolution of Life: Prebiotic Chemistry of Biomolecules

Author: Michele Fiore

Publisher: MDPI

Published: 2019-10-29

Total Pages: 288

ISBN-13: 3039216066

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Studying the origin of life is one of man’s greatest achievements over the last sixty years. The fields of interest encompassed by this quest are multiple and interdisciplinary: chemistry, physics, biology, biochemistry, mathematics, geology but also statistics, atmospheric science, meteorology, oceanography, and astrophysics. Recent scientific discoveries, such as water on Mars and the existence of super-Earths with atmospheres similar to primordial Earth, have pushed researchers to simulate prebiotic conditions in explaining the abiotic formation of molecules essential to life. This collection of articles offers an overview of recent discoveries in the field of prebiotic chemistry of biomolecules, their formation and selection, and the evolution of complex chemical systems.

The Search for Life's Origins
The Search for Life's Origins

Author: National Research Council

Publisher: National Academies Press

Published: 1990-02-01

Total Pages: 161

ISBN-13: 0309042461

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The field of planetary biology and chemical evolution draws together experts in astronomy, paleobiology, biochemistry, and space science who work together to understand the evolution of living systems. This field has made exciting discoveries that shed light on how organic compounds came together to form self-replicating molecules-the origin of life. This volume updates that progress and offers recommendations on research programs-including an ambitious effort centered on Mars-to advance the field over the next 10 to 15 years. The book presents a wide range of data and research results on these and other issues: The biogenic elements and their interaction in the interstellar clouds and in solar nebulae. Early planetary environments and the conditions that lead to the origin of life. The evolution of cellular and multicellular life. The search for life outside the solar system. This volume will become required reading for anyone involved in the search for life's beginnings-including exobiologists, geoscientists, planetary scientists, and U.S. space and science policymakers.

Genesis - In The Beginning
Genesis - In The Beginning

Author: Joseph Seckbach

Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media

Published: 2012-03-19

Total Pages: 911

ISBN-13: 9400729413

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Genesis – In The Beginning deals with the origin and diversity of Life and early biological evolution and discusses the question of where (hot or cold sources) and when the beginning of Life took place. Among the sections are chapters dealing with prebiotic chemical processes and considering self-replication of polymers in mineral habitats. One chapter is dedicated to the photobiological regime on early Earth and the emergence of Life. This volume covers the role of symmetry, information and order (homochrial biomolecules) in the beginning of Life. The models of protocells and the genetic code with gene transfer are important topics in this volume. Three chapters discuss the Panspermia hypothesis (to answer “Are we from outer Space?”). Other chapters cover the Astrobiological aspects of Life in the Universe in extraterrestrial Planets of the Solar System and deal with cometary hydrosphere (and its connection to Earth). We conclude with the history and frontiers of Astrobiogy.

The Emergence of Life
The Emergence of Life

Author: Pier Luigi Luisi

Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Published: 2006-07-13

Total Pages: 268

ISBN-13: 1139455648

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The origin of life from inanimate matter has been the focus of much research for decades, both experimentally and philosophically. Luisi takes the reader through the consecutive stages from prebiotic chemistry to synthetic biology, uniquely combining both approaches. This book presents a systematic course discussing the successive stages of self-organisation, emergence, self-replication, autopoiesis, synthetic compartments and construction of cellular models, in order to demonstrate the spontaneous increase in complexity from inanimate matter to the first cellular life forms. A chapter is dedicated to each of these steps, using a number of synthetic and biological examples. With end-of-chapter review questions to aid reader comprehension, this book will appeal to graduate students and academics researching the origin of life and related areas such as evolutionary biology, biochemistry, molecular biology, biophysics and natural sciences.

The Origins of Life
The Origins of Life

Author: David W. Deamer

Publisher:

Published: 2010

Total Pages: 0

ISBN-13: 9781936113040

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Life arose on Earth more than three billion years ago. How the first self-replicating systems emerged from prebiotic chemistry and evolved into primitive cell-like entities is an area of intense research, spanning molecular and cellular biology, organic chemistry, cosmology, geology, and atmospheric science. Written and edited by experts in the field, this collection from Cold Spring Harbor Perspectives in Biology provides a comprehensive account of the environment of the early Earth and the mechanisms by which the organic molecules present may have self-assembled to form replicating material such as RNA and other polymers. The contributors examine the energetic requirements for this process and focus in particular on the essential role of semi-permeable compartments in containment of primitive genetic systems. Also covered in the book are new synthetic approaches for fabricating cellular systems, the potentially extraterrestrial origin of life's building blocks, and the possibility that life once existed on Mars. Comprising five sections Setting the Stage, Components of First Life, Primitive Systems, First Polymers, and Transition to a Microbial World it is a vital reference for all scientists interested in the origin of life on Earth and the likelihood that it has arisen on other planets

Origins of Life: The Primal Self-Organization
Origins of Life: The Primal Self-Organization

Author: Richard Egel

Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media

Published: 2011-08-31

Total Pages: 363

ISBN-13: 3642216250

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If theoretical physicists can seriously entertain canonical “standard models” even for the big-bang generation of the entire universe, why cannot life scientists reach a consensus on how life has emerged and settled on this planet? Scientists are hindered by conceptual gaps between bottom-up inferences (from early Earth geological conditions) and top-down extrapolations (from modern life forms to common ancestral states). This book challenges several widely held assumptions and argues for alternative approaches instead. Primal syntheses (literally or figuratively speaking) are called for in at least five major areas. (1) The first RNA-like molecules may have been selected by solar light as being exceptionally photostable. (2) Photosynthetically active minerals and reduced phosphorus compounds could have efficiently coupled the persistent natural energy flows to the primordial metabolism. (3) Stochastic, uncoded peptides may have kick-started an ever-tightening co-evolution of proteins and nucleic acids. (4) The living fossils from the primeval RNA World thrive within modern cells. (5) From the inherently complex protocellular associations preceding the consolidation of integral genomes, eukaryotic cell organization may have evolved more naturally than simple prokaryote-like life forms. – If this book can motivate dedicated researchers to further explore the alternative mechanisms presented, it will have served its purpose well.

Red Dwarfs
Red Dwarfs

Author: David S. Stevenson

Publisher: Springer Nature

Published: 2019-09-11

Total Pages: 376

ISBN-13: 3030255506

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This thought-provoking book looks at the nature of red dwarf systems as potential homes for life. Realistically, what are the prospects for life on these distant worlds? Could life evolve and survive there? How do these planetary surfaces and geologies evolve? How would life on a planet orbiting a red dwarf differ from life on Earth? And what are the implications for finding further habitable worlds in our galaxy? The author provides readers with insight into the habitability of planets and how this changes as time progresses and the central star evolves. Since the previous 2013 edition Under a Crimson Sun, there has been a rise in newly discovered planets orbiting red dwarfs, accompanied by controversial areas of research that test what we think we know about these systems. This revised edition delves into the wealth of new material uncovered since that date. It explains the often conflicting results and analyses put forward and clarifies our understanding of these exciting new worlds. The chapters explore the full width of relevant scientific discovery and speculation on the potential for red dwarf planets to host life. New content includes improved atmospheric models, new understandings of the impact of stellar radiation on the atmosphere of red dwarf worlds, tidal-locking, and comparisons with terrestrial geology and climate.

The Limits of Organic Life in Planetary Systems
The Limits of Organic Life in Planetary Systems

Author: National Research Council

Publisher: National Academies Press

Published: 2007-06-26

Total Pages: 116

ISBN-13: 0309179564

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The search for life in the solar system and beyond has to date been governed by a model based on what we know about life on Earth (terran life). Most of NASA's mission planning is focused on locations where liquid water is possible and emphasizes searches for structures that resemble cells in terran organisms. It is possible, however, that life exists that is based on chemical reactions that do not involve carbon compounds, that occurs in solvents other than water, or that involves oxidation-reduction reactions without oxygen gas. To assist NASA incorporate this possibility in its efforts to search for life, the NRC was asked to carry out a study to evaluate whether nonstandard biochemistry might support life in solar system and conceivable extrasolar environments, and to define areas to guide research in this area. This book presents an exploration of a limited set of hypothetical chemistries of life, a review of current knowledge concerning key questions or hypotheses about nonterran life, and suggestions for future research.