Hostname: page-component-7bb8b95d7b-lvwk9 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-09-13T10:29:46.406Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Revival of the concept of the cold prehistory of life

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  13 July 2009

Vitalii I. Goldanskii
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

The extra-terrestrial scenario of the origin of life suggested by Svante Arrhenius (1908) as the ‘panspermia’ hypothesis was revived by the discovery of a low-temperature quantum limit of a chemical reaction rate in 1973. Entropy factors play no role near absolute zero, and slow molecular tunnelling can lead to the exothermic formation of quite complex molecules. Interstellar grains or particles of cometary tails could serve as possible cold seeds of life, with acetic acid, urea and products of their polycondensation as quasi-equilibrium intermediates. Scenarios of the origin of life should consider the appearance of a typical feature of living species—chiral purity of their aminoacids and sugars. Very cold solid environment hinders tunnelling racemization under conditions typical for outer space. However, the decisive problem of the origin of chiral purity of the Earth's biosphere is the mechanism of the spontaneous breaking of mirror symmetry rather than the search for some ‘advantage factors’ which can promote gradual accumulation of enantiomeric excess. Extra-terrestrial (cold, solid phase) scenarios of the origin of life seem to be more promising from that point of view than terrestrial (warm) scenarios. In a scheme of five main stages of prebiological evolution some problems important for further investigation are briefly discussed.

Type
Research Article
Information
European Review , Volume 1 , Issue 2 , April 1993 , pp. 137 - 147
Copyright
Copyright © Academia Europaea 1993

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

1.Schopf, J. W. (Ed) (1983) Earth's Earliest Biosphere. Its Origin and Evolution. (Princeton University Press, Princeton, NY).Google Scholar
2.Schidlowski, M. (1988) Nature 333, 313.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
3.Eigen, M., Lindemann, B. F., Tietze, M., Winkler-Oswatitsch, R., Dress, A. and von Haeseler, A. (1989) Science 244, 673CrossRefGoogle Scholar
4.Oparin, A.I. (1957) The Origins of Life on the Earth. (Oliver and Boyd, Edinburgh).Google Scholar
5.Haldane, J.B.S. (1929) Ration Ann 148 3.Google Scholar
6.Miller, S.L. and Orgel, L.E. (1974) The Origins of Life on the Earth. (Prentice-Hall, Englewood Cliffs, NY).Google Scholar
7.Arrhenius, S. (1908) World in the Making (Harper and Row, New York).Google Scholar
8.Crick, F. (1981) Life Itself: Its Origin and Nature (Simon and Schuster, New York).Google Scholar
9.Goldanskii, V.I., Frank-Kamenetskii, M.D. and Barkalov, I.M. (1973) Science 182, 1344.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
10.Goldanskii, V.I., Kuz'min, V.V. (1989) Sov Phys Uspekhi 32, 1.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
11.Goldanskii, V.I. and Kuz'min, V.V. (1991) Nature 352, 114.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
12.Avetisov, V.A., Goldanskii, V.I. and Kuz'min, V.V. (1991) Phys. Today 44(7), 33.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
13.Bonner, W.A. (1991) Orig. Life Evol Biosphere 21, 59.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
14.Bell, R.P. (1973) The Proton in Chemistry (2nd Edn.) (Cornell University Press, Ithaca, NY).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
15.Bell, R.P. (1980) The Tunnel Effect in Chemistry (Chapman and Hall, London).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
16.Goldanskii, V.I. (1959) Doklady AN SSSR 124, 1261; (1959) 127, 1037.Google Scholar
17.Goldanskii, V.I. (1975) Russian Chem Rev 44, 1019.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
18.Goldanskii, V.I. (1976) Ann Rev Phys Chem 27, 85.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
19.Goldanskii, V.I. (1978–1979) Chem Scripta 13, 1.Google Scholar
20.Goldanskii, V.I. (1979) Nature 279, 109.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
21.Goldanskii, V.I., Trakhtenberg, L.I. and Fleurov, V.N. (1987) Sov. Sci Rev B (Chem) 9, 59.Google Scholar
22.Goldanskii, V.I., Benderskii, V.A. and Trakhtenberg, L.I. (1989) Adv Chem Phys 75, 349.Google Scholar
23.Benderskii, V.A. and Goldanskii, V.I. (1992) Int Rev Phys Chem 11, 1.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
24.Goldanskii, V.I., Ttakhtenberg, L.I. and Fleurov, V.N. (1986) Tunneling Phenomena in Chemical Physica (Nauka, Moscow) (Russian); (1989) (Gordon and Breach) (English).Google Scholar
25.Wickramasinghe, N.C. (1975) Mon Not R Astr Soc 170, 111.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
26.Wickramasinghe, N.C. (1974) Nature 252, 452.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
27.Hoyle, F. and Wickramasinghe, N. C. (1977) Nature 258, 610; (1983) 306, 420.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
28.Hoyle, F. and Wickramasinghe, N.C. (1978) Lifecloud (Dent and Sons, London).Google Scholar
29.Hoyle, F. and Wickramasinghe, N.C. (1979) Diseases from Space (Harper and Row, New York).Google Scholar
30.Mitchell, D.L., Lin, R.P., Anderson, K.A., Carlson, C.W., Curtis, D.W., Korth, A., Reme, H., Sauvaud, J.A., d'Uston, C. and Mendis, D.A. (1987) Science 237, 636.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
31.Huebner, W.F. (1987) Science 237, 628.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
32.Moore, M.H. and Tanabe, A.T. (1990) Astrophys J 365, L 39.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
33.Goldanskii, V.I. (1977) Nature 258, 612; (1977) 269, 583.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
34.Goldanskii, V.I. and Kiz'min, V.V. (1990) J Brit Interplanet Soc. 43, 31.Google Scholar
35.Goldanskii, V.I., Gurvich, L.V., Muzylev, V.V. and Strelnitskii, V.S. (1981) Scientific Informations of the Astronomical Council of the Academy of Sciences of the USSR No 47, 3.Google Scholar
36.Barkalov, I.M., Adadurov, G.A., Dremin, A.N., Goldanskii, V.I., Ignatovich, T.N., Mikhailov, A.N., Talrose, V.L. and Yampolskii, P.A. (1967) J Polym Soc (C) 16, 2597.Google Scholar
37.Goldanskii, V.I., Ignatovich, T.N., Kosygin, M.Yu. and Yampolskii, P.A. (1972) Doklady Biochemistry (Proc. Acad Sci USSR) 297, 218.Google Scholar
38.Kargin, V.A., Kabanov, V.A. and Papisov, I.M. (1964) J Polym Sci 4, 767.Google Scholar
39.Sagan, C. and Khare, B.N. (1979) Nature 277, 102.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
40.Simonius, M. (1978) Phys Rev Lett 40, 980.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
41.Harris, R.A. and Stodolsky, L. (1978) Phys Lett (B) 78, 313; (1982) 116, 464.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
42.Harris, R.A. and Stodolsky, L. (1983) J Chem Phys 78, 7330.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
43.Berlin, Yu.A., Gladkov, S.O., Goldanskii, V.I. and Kuz'min, V.V. (1989) Sov Physics—Doklady 306, 844.Google Scholar
44.Gladyshev, G.P. (1978) The Moon and the Planets 19, 89.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
45.Khasanov, M.M. and Gladyshev, G.P. (1980) Origins of Life 10, 247.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
46.Gladyshev, G.P. and Khasanov, M.M. (1981) J Theor Biol 90, 191.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
47.Gladyshev, G.P. and Kitaeva, D.Kh. (1990) Zh. Vses Khim Obshch im Mendeleeva, No 5, 625.Google Scholar
48.Barron, L.D. (1986) J Am Chem Soc 108, 5539.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
49.Barron, L.D. (1986) Chem Phys Lett 123, 423; (1987) 135, 1.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
50.Barron, L.D. (1987) BioSystems 20, 7.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
51.Rubenstein, E., Bonner, W.A., Noyes, H.P. and Brown, G.S. (1983) Nature 306, 118.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
52.Bonner, W.A. and Rubenstein, E. (1987) BioSystems 20, 99.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
53.Bonner, W.A. and Rubenstein, E. (1990) In Prebiological Self Organization of Matter (Eds Ponnamperuma, C. and Eirich, F.R.) (A. Deepak Publishing, Hampton, Virginia, USA).Google Scholar
54.Engel, M.H. and Nagy, B. (1982) Nature 296, 837.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
55.Engel, M.H., Macko, S.A. and Silfer, J.A. (1990) Nature 348, 47.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
56.Chyba, C.F. (1990) Nature 348, 113.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
57.Morozov, L.L., Kuz'min, V.V. and Goldanskii, V.I. (1984) Doklady—Biophys (Proc. Acad Sci USSR) 274, 55; (1984) 275, 71.Google Scholar
58.Avetisov, V.A. and Goldanskii, V.I. (1991) BioSystems 25, 141.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
59.Frank, C.F. (1953) Biochem Biophys Acta 11, 459.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
60.Morozov, L.L. (1979) Orig Life 9, 187.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
61.Pincock, R.E. and Wilson, K.R. (1971) J Am Chem Soc 93, 1291; (1975) 97, 1474.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
62.Avetisov, V.A., Goldanskii, V.I., Grechukha, S.N. and Kuz'min, V.V. (1991) Chem Phys Lett 184, 526.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
63.Kondepudi, D.K., Kaufman, R.J. and Singh, N. (1990) Science 250, 975.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
64.Berlin, Yu.A., Drobnitsky, D.O., Goldanskii, V.I. and Kuz'min, V.V. (1992) Phys Rev (A) 45, 3547.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
65.Berlin, Yu.A., Drobnitsky, D.O., Goldanski, V.I. and Kuz'min, V.V. (1992) BioSystems 26, 165.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
66.Berlin, Yu.A., Drobnitsky, D.O., Goldanskii, V.I. and Kuz'min, V.V. (1992) Chem Phys Lett 189, 316.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
67.Bada, J.L. (1971) Adv Chem Ser 106, 309.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
68.Bada, J.L. and Schroeder, R. (1975) Naturwissenschaften 62, 71.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
69.Bada, J.L. (1985) In Chemistry and Biochemistry of the Amino Acids (Chapman and Hall, London).Google Scholar