Chemical systems, chemical contiguity and the emergence of life

• Terrence P. Kee and
• Pierre-Alain Monnard

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2017, 13, 1551–1563, doi:10.3762/bjoc.13.155

• environment; prebiotic synthesis; protocell; Review Introduction Research in the origins of life field or abiogenesis (emergence of life from non-life) attempts to answer a question that has fascinated humanity for millennia: Where do we come from? Whereas early attempts were more metaphysical in nature

• of catalysts, which affords a barrier to these species having been instrumental in the origins of life [7]. However, the reactivity of pyrophosphites (P with a +3 oxidation state) [46][47] is large enough to concomitantly permit phosphorylation reactions to activate small chemicals, as such as amino

• a common precursor energy currency for prebiotic catalysis, the activity of which is likely to be broader than these two chemical examples. Mineral surfaces and porous matrices can also induce the formation of chemical systems of potential interest in the context of the origins of life. Several

Framing major prebiotic transitions as stages of protocell development: three challenges for origins-of-life research

• Ben Shirt-Ediss,
• Sara Murillo-Sánchez and
• Kepa Ruiz-Mirazo

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2017, 13, 1388–1395, doi:10.3762/bjoc.13.135

• experimental challenges aimed at constructing protocell systems made of a diversity of functionally coupled components and, thereby, at characterizing more precisely the type of prebiotic evolutionary dynamics that such protocells could engage in. Keywords: functional integration; origins of life; prebiotic

• special type of “nano-factory”, whose molecular machinery conducts chemical syntheses from simpler precursors and uses the products of that complex chemical activity for its continuous reinforcement, managing to re-fabricate the complete synthesis machinery itself. The problem of origins of life consists

• move the field of origins of life forward would be to couple simple chemistry to prebiotic vesicle dynamics: chemical reactions provide the power for endogenous synthesis and vesicles the adequate scaffolding for the functional integration of what is synthesized. We will proceed briefly with the issue

From chemical metabolism to life: the origin of the genetic coding process

• Antoine Danchin

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2017, 13, 1119–1135, doi:10.3762/bjoc.13.111

• scenarios. To be sure, trying to understand the origins of life should be based on what we know of current chemistry in the solar system and beyond. There, amino acids and very small compounds such as carbon dioxide, dihydrogen or dinitrogen and their immediate derivatives are ubiquitous. Surface-based

• that envelops us. Conjectures about the origins of life do not escape this unfortunate shortcoming. Even the quest for our own origin is far from settled: There is no Adam or Eve in the origin of mankind. If you doubt, just try to work out a single-step process that would account for a change from a

• , as unfortunately many still try to call forth. Thirty years ago, Freeman Dyson provided a convincing demonstration that, contrary to the widespread "adamist" view, which looks for a single origin to all things, there were at least two origins of life [1]. He established that before the emergence of

How and why kinetics, thermodynamics, and chemistry induce the logic of biological evolution

• Addy Pross and
• Robert Pascal

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2017, 13, 665–674, doi:10.3762/bjoc.13.66

• -organisation of life, which, in turn, allows an assessment of semi-quantitative constraints on systems and environments from which life could evolve. Keywords: dynamic kinetic stability; kinetic control; origins of life; self-organisation; Introduction Although it is mostly understood in historic terms, the

• further developments towards the origin of life [8][9]. Evolvability and the origins of life This discussion has not taken into account the ability of a system to evolve, which was not the goal of the present work, but is obviously a requirement for any possibility of evolution [64][65]. Extended

Conjecture and hypothesis: The importance of reality checks

• David Deamer

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2017, 13, 620–624, doi:10.3762/bjoc.13.60

• David Deamer Department of Biomolecular Engineering, University of California, Santa Cruz CA 95060, USA 10.3762/bjoc.13.60 Abstract In origins of life research, it is important to understand the difference between conjecture and hypothesis. This commentary explores the difference and recommends

• hypothesis to consensus. Conjecture is an idea, hypothesis is a conjecture that can be tested by experiment or observation, and consensus emerges when other interested colleagues agree that evidence supports a hypothesis that has explanatory value. This approach is clearly relevant to origins of life

• try to prove an idea is right. Instead, try to falsify it. Those rare ideas that cannot be falsified then emerge from the majority of ideas that fail the testing process. Günther Wächtershäuser [4] recently commented on how Popper's advice can be applied in origins of life research. Hypothesis testing

Adsorption of RNA on mineral surfaces and mineral precipitates

• Elisa Biondi,
• Yoshihiro Furukawa,
• Jun Kawai and
• Steven A. Benner

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2017, 13, 393–404, doi:10.3762/bjoc.13.42

• aragonite. These have relevance to the prebiotic stabilization of RNA, where such carbonate minerals are expected to have been abundant, as they appear to be today on Mars. Keywords: carbonates; natural minerals; origins of life; RNA adsorption; synthetic minerals; Introduction It has been nearly 70 years

• of RNA on synthetic minerals formed by double-decomposition reactions.a Adsorption of RNA on all the natural minerals tested in this study. Listed are the origins of each mineral, in alphabetical order. Acknowledgements We are indebted to the FfAME-John Templeton Foundation program on the origins of

• life, and to the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, award No NNX14AK37G, for support of this work. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Aeronautics and Space