They were first discovered in some of the oldest dated sedimentary rocks Land It dates back to 3.8 billion years agocontain minerals boron That allow explaining the process, based on an etymology Landfrom the formation of a primitive protein. This is the result of a study conducted by scientists from the university Tohokuin Japan And published in the magazineCommunication chemistry“.
The results of this research indicate, in fact, that the coastal areas of ancient small continents and islands rich in boric acid were collected spontaneously Amino acidsformation Polypeptides And primary proteins. Experts also found a possible environment for the reaction that produced i Catalytic organic polymers. life on Land It’s because it’s cooled down, after all the great explosion. Which favored the formation of a solid crust in which the first continents were formed.
Earth origin
continuous meteorite bombardment Ice comets have renewed Land From a huge amount of water created the oceans, while volcanic activity and water vapor created a primitive atmosphere, initially deprived of oxygen. The continents, through tectonic plates, came together into supercontinents, which later broke apart again in a process that was repeated many times in the last four and a half billion years.
In the beginning life began in the form of Unicellular organismsbut it was developed later multicellularity;, and thus a higher evolutionary process such as photosynthesis, which supplied oxygen to the atmosphere and led to the formation of the ozone layer. Life forms diversified into many species and became more advanced, colonizing the mainland and gradually occupying all of its habitats. Land.
create life
Ice processes, volcanic eruptions, and meteorite impacts caused many mass extinctionsbut the remaining species evolved into new forms and were always recreated The new biosphere. Chemical reactions led to the formation of organic molecules that interact to form ever more complex and complex structures, and eventually gave rise to molecules capable of reproducing copies of themselves.
This ability gave a great impetus to evolution and led to the creation of life. Scientists recently found a potential environment for the reaction that produced i Catalytic organic polymers. To do this, dried solutions Amino acids Contains boric acid. From here, they discovered that boric acid stimulates polypeptide synthesis under both neutral and acidic conditions. The longest were the peptides formed during the experiments 39 Glycine Polypeptides Long monomer under neutral conditions.
Study conclusions
Previous studies indicated that highly alkaline evaporative environments were the site of ancient protein synthesis, with the formation of the d.glycine peptides up to 20 monomers. Neutral conditions were thought to be the worst case regarding peptide synthesis.
“formation Polypeptides In neutral environments it is of important importance in the chemical evolution of the origin of lifeThe lead author explained Yoshihiro FurukawaAssociate Professor, Tohoku University. While RNA (RNA) is quite stable under neutral conditions, it is extremely unstable under alkaline conditions. Boron is known to assist in many steps of the abiotic synthesis of Ribonucleotides. “Neutral evaporative environments rich in boron are the ideal setting for the formation and interactions between the two base polymers at Earth PrebioticHe confirmed Furukawa. The research team is now studying the amino acids that are incorporated into the initial peptides in this environment.
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