Abiogenesis

Many mechanisms, functions and structures of life have been unraveled. However, the fundamental driving force that propelled chemical evolution and led to life has remained obscure. The second law of thermodynamics, written as an equation of motion, reveals that elemental abiotic matter evolves from the equilibrium via chemical reactions that couple to external energy towards complex biotic non-equilibrium systems. Each time a new mechanism of energy transduction emerges, e.g., by random variation in syntheses, evolution prompts by punctuation and settles to a stasis when the accessed free energy has been consumed. The evolutionary course towards an increasingly larger energy transduction system accumulates a diversity of energy transduction mechanisms, i.e. species. The rate of entropy increase is identified as the fitness criterion among the diverse mechanisms, which places the theory of evolution by natural selection on the fundamental thermodynamic principle with no demarcation ...

This paper proposes an apologetic plan to persuade an atheistic naturalist to move to theism by refuting the foundation of naturalism: non-directed chemical abiogenesis, and then to Christian theism by demonstrating the reasonableness of the resurrection of Christ through a rigorous historical analysis.

In the beginning God created heaven and earth. That's how the bible starts. Now ever since the Charles's Lyell and Darwin this has been challenged. For some years since 2004 after studying many argumentations from both points of view the author has been using a challenge that so far no one has been able to answer and as suggested will never will be able to answer/meet without pointing to the assumption/postulation that life as we know it, has been deliberately and divinely created.

The lipid bilayer membrane, which is the foundation of life on Earth, is not viable outside of biology based on liquid water. This fact has caused astronomers who seek conditions suitable for life to search for exoplanets within the "habitable zone," the narrow band in which liquid water can exist. However, can cell membranes be created and function at temperatures far below those at which water is a liquid? We take a step toward answering this question by proposing a new type of membrane, composed of small organic nitrogen compounds, that is capable of forming and functioning in liquid methane at cryogenic temperatures. Using molecular simulations, we demonstrate that these membranes in cryogenic solvent have an elasticity equal to that of lipid bilayers in water at room temperature. As a proof of concept, we also demonstrate that stable cryogenic membranes could arise from compounds observed in the atmosphere of Saturn's moon, Titan, known for the existence of seas o...

Serpentinites occur worldwide in various geological settings, such as in magma-starved oceanic basins. Abyssal serpentinites are long-term storage for chlorine and carbon, the latter forming dominantly reduced and subordinately oxidized compounds. Hence, serpentinites, salts, and reduced carbon phases coexist in an “abyssal association”. Although huge reservoirs of salts and reduced carbonaceous matter in abyssal serpentinites are thought to be lacking, this may be more a reflection of intrinsic limits in research methods than an indication of their absence. On the other hand, shallow-seated hydrocarbon-rich mud volcanoes and diapirs, consisting of salts, hydrocarbons (oils and gases), and clayey muds (including mudded serpentines) can provide evidence for such an oceanic association. Here, we search for scientific data in support of the “oceanic association”, and hence we propose a reappraisal of exploitable worldwide salt-hydrocarbon reservoirs, even gigantic in size. Abyssal serpentinites are well-known source rocks of abiotic gaseous hydrocarbons via Fischer-Tropsch-type reaction (FTT), whereas macromolecular carbonaceous matter (mostly bitumen) found in serpentinites is postulated to be biogenic. This inference is based mainly on three assumptions: (i) FTT in nature does not yield oils; (ii) hydrocarbons derive essentially from the thermal alteration of microbial molecules; (iii) the presence of biomarkers, traditionally considered evidence of the biological origin of oils. Nevertheless, some lines of strong evidence disprove these accepted conventions: (i) Lab experiments demonstrated that FTT can synthesize significant quantities of liquid hydrocarbons (oils) under conditions compatible with the deeper and more reduced level of serpentinite-hosted hydrothermal systems; (ii) macromolecules, generally thought to derive from microbial activity, can be abiotically generated as documented in extraterrestrial bodies; (iii) biomarkers are evidence for the proliferation of microbial communities, which subsist on serpentinization and FTT products, thus they are biological pollutants. Moreover, seawater-driven serpentinization consumes water producing huge amounts (∼11 kg halite·m−3 of peridotite) of salts that can be stored in the deeper zone of abyssal-type hydrothermal systems. Thus, the origin of shallow-sited salt deposits, even gigantic in size, can be related to either the advective upwelling of hot hydrothermal brines, due to the dehydration of abyssal serpentinites, or to the passive upwelling of buoyant saline geobodies. Piercement structures are indeed seismically imaged in several localities, such as South Atlantic, the Gulf of Mexico, the Serpentinite belt extending from Cuba to Hispaniola, the North Sea trench, and the Zagros orogenic belt. Similar lines of evidence at the microscopic scale have been found in some Hyblean serpentinite xenoliths (south-eastern Sicily), being representative of the unmetamorfosed in-situ relic of the Palaeo-Tethys Ocean, upon which Sicily and its off-shore areas lie. In spite of the accepted stereotype of hydrocarbons as fossil fuels, and hence finite resources, reduced carbon compounds abiotically produced in abyssal serpentinites may be copious, protracted over time, and thus renewable.

The driving force behind the origin and evolution of life has been the thermodynamic imperative of increasing the entropy production of the biosphere through increasing the global solar photon dissipation rate. In the upper atmosphere of today, oxygen and ozone derived from life processes are performing the short-wavelength UV-C and UV-B dissipation. On Earth's surface, water and organic pigments in water facilitate the near-UV and visible photon dissipation. The first organic pigments probably formed, absorbed, and dissipated at those photochemically active wavelengths in the UV-C and UV-B that could have reached Earth's surface during the Archean. Proliferation of these pigments can be understood as an autocatalytic photochemical process obeying non-equilibrium thermodynamic directives related to increasing solar photon dissipation rate. Under these directives, organic pigments would have evolved over time to increase the global photon dissipation rate by (1) increasing the ratio of their effective photon cross sections to their physical size, (2) decreasing their electronic excited state lifetimes, (3) quenching radiative de-excitation channels (e.g., fluores-cence), (4) covering ever more completely the prevailing solar spectrum, and (5) proliferating and dispersing to cover an ever greater surface area of Earth. From knowledge of the evolution of the spectrum of G-type stars, and considering the most probable history of the transparency of Earth's atmosphere, we construct the most probable Earth surface solar spectrum as a function of time and compare this with the history of molecular absorption maxima obtained from the available data in the literature. This comparison supports the conjecture that many fundamental molecules of life are pigments which arose, proliferated, and co-evolved as a response to dissipating the solar spectrum, supports the ther-modynamic dissipation theory for the origin of life, constrains models for Earth's early atmosphere, and sheds some new light on the origin of photosynthesis.

The lipid bilayer membrane, which is the foundation of life on Earth, is not viable outside of biology based on liquid water. This fact has caused astronomers who seek conditions suitable for life to search for exoplanets within the "habitable zone," the narrow band in which liquid water can exist. However, can cell membranes be created and function at temperatures far below those at which water is a liquid? We take a step toward answering this question by proposing a new type of membrane, composed of small organic nitrogen compounds, that is capable of forming and functioning in liquid methane at cryogenic temperatures. Using molecular simulations, we demonstrate that these membranes in cryogenic solvent have an elasticity equal to that of lipid bilayers in water at room temperature. As a proof of concept, we also demonstrate that stable cryogenic membranes could arise from compounds observed in the atmosphere of Saturn's moon, Titan, known for the existence of seas o...

The Earth’s lithosphere is commonly investigated by both direct and indirect methods, corresponding to rock sampling and geophysical surveys, respectively. The interpretation of geophysical data is generally based on the combination of values measured in the lithosphere with those obtained in laboratories from rock samples. However, petrophysical properties of numerous lithotypes overlap, yielding the misleading interpretation of geophysical surveys in many areas of the world. A heated debate particularly concerns non-volcanic rifted margins, fuelled by the possible presence of giant oil and gas fields: thinned continental crust or serpentinized oceanic basement. One of the possible causes of ambiguity is related to the intimate similarity of oceanic serpentinites and various crustal rocks (e.g. basalts, gabbros, limestones, sandstones, shales, etc.), in terms of petrophysical properties. Can variably serpentinized peridotites mimic typical continental crustal rocks, such as granites and granodiorites? To answer this question, we compared literature data of worldwide samples of such lithologies. The results show the complete overlap of the considered petrophysical properties (density, magnetic susceptibility, VP, VS, VP/VS, and Poisson’s ratio) of these lithotypes (P = 10–1000 MPa, depth = 0.33–33.33 km), further confirming the difficulty in discriminating variably serpentinized mantle rocks from crustal lithologies. Therefore, the recognition of buried serpentinite geobodies, being potential sites of exploitable gas and oil reservoirs, like those probably ensconced in non-volcanic rifted margins, necessitates a robust lithological model inferred from direct methods, namely the study of core drillings, deep-seated xenoliths and tectonic exposures of deep-crustal sections to substantiate the interpretation of geophysical data.

A diapiric intrusion of clays in the Carlentini Formation (Tortonian) was discovered in a quarry at S. Demetrio High (Hyblean Plateau, Sicily, Italy). Seven clay samples were analyzed by different analytical methods, including X-ray powder diffraction (XRD) and Fourier-transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy, to determine the composition and mechanism of formation (sedimentary vs. hydrothermal) of these clays. Ferric saponite, carbonates (calcite and traces of ankerite), quartz, pyrite, and zeolites (phillipsite and harmotome) were detected using XRD and FTIR. This mineral assemblage, dominated by Fe-rich saponite, and the abundance of light rare-earth elements (LREE), Eu, fluid-mobile elements (FME > 106 primordial mantle: Li, Be, B, As, Sb, Pb, U, Ba, Sr, Cs), and other incompatible elements (Zr = 169 ppm, Nb = 46 ppm, Th = 11 ppm, on average) imply that S. Demetrio clays precipitated from a mixture of hot Si-rich hydrothermal fluids (350-400ºC) and cold seawater. The evidence is in accord with the affinity of clays for hydrothermally modified mafic and ultramafic rocks, forming the Hyblean lower crust, based on multi-element comparisons, and on the occurrence of trace amounts of chrysotile 2Mc1 and sepiolite. The association of long-chain aliphatic-aromatic hydrocarbons (intensity ratios I2927/I2957 > 0.5) with hydrothermal clays, the lack of fossils, and the similarity of the IR absorption bands with those of organic compounds detected previously in some metasomatized Hyblean gabbroic xenoliths suggest a possible abiogenic origin of hydrocarbons via a Fischer-Tropsch-type reaction. The S. Demetrio clay diapir was emplaced at shallow crustal levels in the Late Miocene as a consequence of the interaction, at a greater depth, of an uprising basalt magma and the products of an early, serpentinite-hosted hydrothermal system.

Biological macromolecules, proteins and nucleic acids are composed exclusively of chirally pure monomers. The chirality consensus appears vital for life and it has even been considered as a prerequisite of life. However the primary cause for the ubiquitous handedness has remained obscure. We propose that the chirality consensus is a kinetic consequence that follows from the principle of increasing entropy, i.e. the 2 nd law of thermodynamics. Entropy increases when an open system evolves by decreasing gradients in free energy with more and more efficient mechanisms of energy transduction. The rate of entropy increase is the universal fitness criterion of natural selection that favors diverse functional molecules and drives the system to the chirality consensus to attain and maintain high-entropy non-equilibrium states.

This article aims to reflect on the descriptions of insects exist in Portuguese colony in the New World. We used as sources treaties, letters and chronicles produced by clerics and colonizers who were in Portuguese America in its first century of European colonization. When analyzing the reports about the insect fauna in the territory newly discovered, we observed a high degree of thoroughness employed by these men to understand the peculiarities existing in nature brasílica. Considering the lower animals, and therefore originate from spontaneous generation, the colonizers set aside considerable space in his works to describe these beings who were noted both for its nutritional potential, as represented by the dangers that the maintenance of the colony.
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O presente artigo pretende fazer uma reflexão sobre as descrições de insetos existentes na colônia portuguesa do Novo Mundo. Para tanto, utilizamos como fontes documentais, tratados, cartas e crônicas produzidas pelos clérigos e colonizadores que estiveram na América portuguesa em seu primeiro século de colonização europeia. Ao analisarmos os relatos acerca da fauna entomológica existente no território recém-descoberto, observamos o alto grau de meticulosidade, empregado por esses homens, para compreender as peculiaridades existentes na natureza brasílica. Considerando-os animais inferiores e, portanto, originários de geração espontânea, os colonizadores reservaram espaço considerável em suas obras para descrever estes seres que eram observados tanto por seu potencial alimentício, quanto pelos perigos que representavam à manutenção da colônia.

Nanodiamonds can be synthesized hydrothermally in the laboratory by using a C-O-H fluid in the graphite stability field, in which the graphite/nanodiamond transition depends on the crystal size as a function of temperature. In nature, the hydrothermal circulation of seawater in serpentinites plays an important role in the carbon speciation in the oceanic crust and exposed mantle, in which hydrocarbons (mainly CH4) of abiogenic origin (via Fischer-Tropsch-type reaction) and occasionally graphite particles are detected. Can nanodiamonds nucleate and grow in serpentinite-hosted hydrothermal systems? To answer this question, a theoretical modelling study which compares the physico-chemical conditions in hydrothermal synthesis with those observed in modern and fossil serpentinite-hosted hydrothermal systems is proposed. Nanodiamonds are predicted to precipitate from a C-O-H fluid, consisting of CH4-CO2-H2O at 350-400ºC and P <0.2 GPa near the FMQ buffer (Fayalite-Magnetite- Quartz), which are conditions compatible with those existing in serpentinite-hosted hydrothermal systems. In these environments, carbon-supersaturated fluids can be derived from water consumption (serpentine formation) under low water/rock ratios, which may promote the growth of nanodiamonds. This theoretical approach sheds light on the intriguing problem of carbon speciation in abyssal-type hydrothermal systems, suggesting that serpentinites may host nanodiamond deposits, even though none have been found yet.

The Strecker reaction of aldehydes with ammonia and hydrogen cyanide first leads to α-aminonitriles, which are then hydrolyzed to α-amino acids. However, before reacting with water, these aminonitriles can be trapped by aminothiols, such as cysteine or homocysteine, to give 5- or 6-membered ring heterocycles, which in turn are hydrolyzed to dipeptides. We propose that this two-step process enabled the formation of thiol-containing dipeptides in the primitive ocean. These small peptides are able to promote the formation of other peptide bonds and of heterocyclic molecules. Theoretical calculations support our experimental results. They predict that α-aminonitriles should be more reactive than other nitriles, and that imidazoles should be formed from transiently formed amidinonitriles. Overall, this set of reactions delineates a possible early stage of the development of organic chemistry, hence of life, on Earth dominated by nitriles and thiol-rich peptides (TRP).

In 2001, the first author (S.N.) led the publication of a book entitled “Geochemistry and the origin of life” in collaboration with Dr. Andre Brack aiming to figure out geo- and astro-chemical processes essential for the emergence of life. Since then, a great number of research progress has been achieved in the relevant topics from our group and others, ranging from the extraterrestrial inputs of life’s building blocks, the chemical evolution on Earth with the aid of mineral catalysts, to the fossilized records of ancient microorganisms. Here, in addition to summarizing these findings for the origin and early evolution of life, we propose a new hypothesis for the generation and co-evolution of photosynthesis with the redox and photochemical conditions on the Earth’s surface. Besides these bottom-up approaches, we introduce an experimental study on the role of water molecules in the life’s function, focusing on the transition from live, dormant, and dead states through dehydration/hy...

There is a consensus that the interaction of organic molecules with the surfaces of naturally-occurring minerals might have played a crucial role in chemical evolution and complexification in a prebiotic era. The hurdle of an overly diluted primordial soup occurring in the free ocean may have been overcome by the adsorption and concentration of relevant molecules on the surface of abundant minerals at the sea shore. Specific organic–mineral interactions could, at the same time, organize adsorbed molecules in well-defined orientations and activate them toward chemical reactions, bringing to an increase in chemical complexity. As experimental approaches cannot easily provide details at atomic resolution, the role of in silico computer simulations may fill that gap by providing structures and reactive energy profiles at the organic–mineral interface regions. Accordingly, numerous computational studies devoted to prebiotic chemical evolution induced by organic–mineral interactions have ...

This paper proposes a method to calculate the minimum amount of time it would take for origin of life, solely by the action of matter according to the laws of physics and chemistry. Once the minimum length of time for origin of life is calculated, it would then be compared to the current age of the universe. As the time it takes for origin of life must be less than the age of the universe, only if the time to origin of life is greater than the age of the universe could there be a paradigm change. A method is proposed to calculate the minimum amount of time needed for origin of life and the factors needed to be taken into account. Such a paradigm shift would have important implications for philosophy. This paper proposes a method to calculate a length of time it would take for life to originate consistent with materialism and then to measure it against the estimate for the age of the universe as calculated by physics.

apakah ada dalam sejarah manusia suatu peritiwa dimana ”makhluk hidup berasal dari benda mati” ?. Ternyata jawabannya ada.  apakah ada dalam sejarah manusia suatu peritiwa dimana ”makhluk hidup berasal dari benda mati” ?. Ternyata jawabannya ada.

A hypothesis is proposed about potassium ponds being the cradles of life enriches the gamut of ideas about the possible conditions of pre-biological evolution on the primeval Earth, but does not bring us closer to solving the real problem of the origin of life. The gist of the matter lies in the mechanism of making a delimitation between two environments – the intracellular environment and the habitat of protocells. Since the sodium–potassium pump (Na+/K+-ATPase) was discovered, no molecular model has been proposed for a predecessor of the modern sodium pump. This has brought into life the idea of the potassium pond, wherein protocells would not need a sodium pump. However, current notions of the operation of living cells come into conflict with even physical laws when trying to use them to explain the origin and functioning of protocells. Thus, habitual explanations of the physical properties of living cells have become inapplicable to explain the corresponding properties of Sidney…

An initiating event in the development of life on earth
is thought to have been the generation of self-replicating catalytic
molecules (SRCMs). Despite decades of work to reveal how SRCMs
could have formed, a chemically detailed hypothesis remains elusive.
I maintain that this is due, in part, to a failure of metaphysics and
question this research program’s ontologic foundation of materialism.
In this essay I suggest another worldview that may provide more
adequate ontologic underpinnings: Whitehead’s process philosophy
of dynamic, relational becoming. Here we come to see molecules
not as unchanging objects but rather as processes that possess the
capacity for subjective experience. Molecular transformation is driven
by experience, both internal and external. Process thought accounts
for the world’s creative impulse by positing a God who lures the becoming
of all entities toward greater complexity and value. Chemical
evolution is now seen as divine motivation of molecular becoming
and, as such, possesses the potential for introducing true novelty into
the world. The “causal joint” between God and world is hypothesized
to be an energy transduction at the molecular level that allows
divine action without violation of chemical principles or physical laws.

The polymerization of amino acids under anhydrous prebiotic conditions was first studied several decades ago. Here we use a stochastic model stressing the relevant role of the polarity of amino acids in the formation of oligopeptides in a prebiotic milieu. Our goal is to outline the predominance of co-polypeptides over homo-polypeptides, resulting not only from the randomness, but also from polarity properties of amino acids. Our results conclude that there was a higher probability of the formation of co-polypeptides than of homo-polymers. Besides, we may hypothesize that the former would have a more ample spectrum of possible chemical functions than homo-polypeptides.