Message boards :
SETI@home Science :
Peptides, Vital to Life, Form Readily From Amino Acids
Message board moderation
Author | Message |
---|---|
Michael Watson Send message Joined: 7 Feb 08 Posts: 1386 Credit: 2,098,506 RAC: 5 |
The problem: How can amino acids, such as those formed in space and brought to Earth by meteorites, form into peptides? Peptides are essential in protein production, and so, life as we know it. This problem has apparently been solved. We expect that peptide formation would occur in water, but water blocks this process. It's now been discovered that sea water, breaking against a shore provides small dry areas within it, where peptides can readily form. The formation of other complex molecules, essential to life, involve similar chemistries, and may well be readily formed in a very similar manner. It seems that pessimism, emphasizing how difficult it is for life to form, has been pushed back by this new finding. This would presumably apply to other planets with suitable conditions, not just Earth. Please find a link to an article or this new finding, below: https://www.vice.com/en/article/n7z4g8/scientists-breakthrough-origin-of-life-could-change-everything |
Jon Golding Send message Joined: 20 Apr 00 Posts: 105 Credit: 841,861 RAC: 0 |
Although "breaking against a shore" implies that exoplanets with moons capable of creating tides might be necessary or desirable. |
©2024 University of California
SETI@home and Astropulse are funded by grants from the National Science Foundation, NASA, and donations from SETI@home volunteers. AstroPulse is funded in part by the NSF through grant AST-0307956.