Aliphatic hydrocarbons obtained from iron carbides: Possible stellar and meteoritic implications

Origins of Life and Evolution of Biospheres -     

Comets and the formation of biochemical compounds on the primitive Earth – A review

Thirty years ago it was suggested that comets impacting on the primitive Earth may have represented a significant source of terrestrial volatiles, including some important precursors for prebiotic synthesis (Oró, 1961,Nature 190: 389). This possibility is strongly supported not only by models of the collisional history of the early Earth, but also by astronomical evidence that suggests that frequent collisions of comet-like bodies from the circumstellar disk around the star Pictoris are taking place. Although a significant fraction of the complex organic compounds that appear to be present in cometary nuclei were probably destroyed during impact, it is argued that cometary collisions with the primitive Earth represented an important source of both free-energy and volatiles, and may have created transient, gaseous environments in which prebiotic synthesis may have taken place.     

UV-induced interstrand cross-linking of d(GT)n.d(CA)n is facilitated by a structural transition

Photochemical alterations following ultraviolet irradiation of the alternating copolymer d(GT)n.d(CA)n were studied. We found that in solution conditions which produced circular dichroism spectra compatible with B-form or A-form DNA, no interstrand cross-linking or photoproduct formation could be demonstrated. Zimmer et al. (Zimmer, C., Tymen, S., Marck, C., and Guschlbaumer, W. (1982) Nucleic Acids Res. 10, 1081-1091) and Vorlickova et al. (Vorlickova, M., Kypr, J., Sotkrova, S., Sponar, J. (1982) Nucleic Acids Res. 10, 1071-1080) have reported a number of solution conditions which produce a structural transition of this polymer characterized by a negative deviation of the circular dichroism spectrum in the region of 280 nm. The nature of this transition has not yet been elucidated. Following ultraviolet irradiation of d(GT)n.d(CA)n under two conditions which produce this transition (manganese solution or ethanol plus trace salts solution) we found ultraviolet dose-dependent interstrand cross-linking as well as dose-dependent formation of thymine-containing photoproduct. Interstrand cross-linking is demonstrated by two criteria: increase in polymer size as detected by alkaline agarose gel electrophoresis, and generation of intermediate density material in alkaline cesium sulfate isopycnic gradients. The thymine-containing photo-product was demonstrated by thin layer chromatography of acid hydrolysates of the polymer. The photo-product is at least partially photoreversible. These findings suggest that the geometry of the alternative conformation is such that pyrimidines from different strands are closely approximated, allowing for photodimerization.     

Hairy cell leukemia associated with carcinoma: report of two patients and review of the literature

The association of carcinoma and hairy cell leukemia (HCL) in two patients is recorded. One of the cases was a 58-year-old male who developed carcinoma of the kidney, while the second patient was a 48-year-old woman with carcinoma in the breast. This rare association is probably coincidental, as it is not described in most of the larger reported series of patients with HCL. It is of interest to note that the first patient had received radiation therapy thirty years before the diagnosis of HCL and carcinoma was made.     

Condensation of mononucleotides by imidazole

Summary The condensation of thymidine-5-monophosphate was carried out in the presence of imidazole in aqueous solutions at neutral pH. Formation of oligo-deoxyribonucleotides up to four units was observed.     

Could life have evolved in cometary nuclei?

Hoyle and Wickramasinghe have recently suggested that life may have originated in cometary nuclei rather than directly on Earth. Even though comets are known to contain substantial amounts of organic compounds which may have contributed to the formation of biochemical molecules on the primitive Earth, it is doubtful that the process of chemical evolution has proceeded in comets beyond the stage that has occurred in carbonaceous chondrites. Some of the arguments which do not favor the occurrence of biopoesis in comets are:

1. A large layer of cometary ices is ablated from the nucleus' surface each time the comet passes through perihelion, so that essentially most of the organic products on the surface would be sublimed, blown off or polymerized.
2. Because of the low temperatures of the cometary ices, polymers formed on one perihelion passage would not migrate deep enough into the nucleus to be preserved before they would be ablated away by the next perihelion passage.
3. In the absence of atmosphere, and discrete liquid and solid surfaces, it is difficult to visualize the synthesis of key life molecules, such as oligopeptides, oligonucleotides and phospholipids by condensation and dehydration reactions as is presumed to have occurred in the evaporating ponds of the primitive Earth.
4. Observations suggest that cometary nuclei have a rather weak structure. Hence, the low central pressures in comets combined with the high vapor pressures of cometary ices at the melting point of water ice, suggest that a liquid core is not a tenable structure. Yet, even if a cometary nucleus is compact enough to hold a liquid core and a transient liquid water environment was provided by the decay of²⁶Al, the continuous irradiation in water of most of the biologically relevant polymers would have hydrolyzed and degraded them.
5. Needless to say that the effects of radiation on self-replicating systems would also have caused the demise of any life forms which may have appeared under any circumstances.
6. Concerning viruses, the high specificity of host-parasite relationships and their coevolutionary lines of descent, rule out a cometary origin for them.

In summary, the view that life originated in comets is untenable in the light of all the available evidence.     

Criteria for the emergence and evolution of life in the solar system

During the past years we have explored most of the bodies of the solar system by means of the Apollo, Venera, Viking, Voyager, and other space missions. We are now in a better position to be able to compare the conditions of other planets and satellites with those of the Earth in order to determine what is unique about our planet which permitted the emergence and evolution of life on it. On the basis of this and other available scientific information we have arrived at the conclusion that there are at least some twentyfive specific conditions or requirements which have to be fulfilled in order for life as we know it to appear and evolve in a planetary system such as ours. Most of these necessary conditions or requirements are mutually interdependent, but in order to discuss their role in depth they have been divided into five major general areas which are discussed in some detail herein. Planetary criteria, which relate to the physical properties of the planet as it is formed and as it becomes a differentiated cosmic body and potential abode of life. The mass, orbital characteristics and energetic relationships with the central star as well as the discrete separation of gas, liquid and solid phases of the planet are of utmost importance. Chemical criteria, which are concerned with the composition, availability of effective energy sources, and chemical constrainst (solvent, pH range, redox potential) of the environment(s) where reactions take place for the prebiological formation of biochemical compounds. Protobiological criteria, which relate to the prebiologically synthesized oligomeric and polymeric biomolecules, how they interact cooperatively to form protobiological structures and functions (replication, catalysis, information transfer, etc.) and self-assemble to give rise to a living system. Evolutionary criteria, which are concerned with the processes responsible for the increase in complexity of organisms by genomic multiplication, symbiotic integration and cellular differentiation, as well as with the negentropic ability of organisms to continuously recycle all the volatile biogenic elements. Altogether these processes made possible the development and evolution of life from the simplest prokaryotic cell ancestor to a cognitive and manipulative multicellular organism (man).In order to extend this inquiry to other systems beyond our solar system a fifth set of requirements based on astronomical observations is also discussed, namely, theStellar criteria, which relate to the elemental composition mass, lifetime, and other features of Main Sequence stars which may be surrounded by planetary systems similar to our own. Finally, a brief review is made on the probability of the existence of extraterrestrial life as well as of civilizations capable of interstellar communication in our Galaxy.Paper presented at the 6th College Park Colloquium, October 1981.     

Synthesis of phosphatidylcholine under possible primitive Earth conditions

Summary Using a primitive Earth evaporating pond model, the synthesis of phosphatidylcholine was accomplished when a reaction mixture of choline chloride and disodium phosphatidate, in the presence of cyanamide and traccs of acid, was evaporated and heated at temperatures ranging from 25° to 100°C for 7 hours. Optimum yields of about 15% were obtained at 80°C. Phosphatidylcholine was identified by chromatographic, chemical and enzymatic degradation methods. On enzymatic hydrolysis with phospholipase A₂ and phospholipase C, lysophosphatidylcholine and phosphorylcholine were formed, respectively. Alkaline hydrolysis gave glycerophosphorylcholine. The synthesis of phosphatidylcholine as the major compound was accompanied by the formation of lysophosphatidylcholine in smaller amounts. Cyanamide was found to be essential for the formation of phosphatidylcholine, and only traces of HCl, of the order of that required to convert the disodium phosphatidate to free phosphatidic acid were found necessary for the synthesis. This work suggests that phosphatidylcholine, which is an essential component of most biological membranes, could have been synthesized on the primitive Earth.