Milestones at the Origin of Life

Fuente: arXiv
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Main Author: Toxvaerd, Søren
Format: Preprint
Published: 2024
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author Toxvaerd, Søren
author_facet Toxvaerd, Søren
contents Living organisms have some common structures, chemical reactions and molecular structures. The organisms consist of cells with cell division, they have homochirality of protein and carbohydrate units, and metabolism, and genetics, and they are mortal. The molecular structures and chemical reactions underlying these features are common from the simplest bacteria to human beings. The origin of life is evolutionary with the emergence of a network of spontaneous biochemical reactions, and the evolution has taken place over a very long time. The evolution contains, however some "landmarks" and bottlenecks, which in a revolutionary manner directed the evolution, and the article tries to establish the order of these events. The article advocates that a possible order in the emergence of life is that the first milestone in prebiotic evolution is at the emergence of homochirality in proteins. The homochirality of peptides is, however, with instability and racemization which causes aging of the peptides and mortality. The metabolism and genetics are established through homochiral enzymes in the Earth's crust for $\approx$ 4 Gyr ago. Finally, the cells with cell division are established in the Hot Springs environment at the interface between the crust and the Hadean Ocean.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2412_14754
institution arXiv
publishDate 2024
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Milestones at the Origin of Life
Toxvaerd, Søren
Populations and Evolution
Earth and Planetary Astrophysics
Living organisms have some common structures, chemical reactions and molecular structures. The organisms consist of cells with cell division, they have homochirality of protein and carbohydrate units, and metabolism, and genetics, and they are mortal. The molecular structures and chemical reactions underlying these features are common from the simplest bacteria to human beings. The origin of life is evolutionary with the emergence of a network of spontaneous biochemical reactions, and the evolution has taken place over a very long time. The evolution contains, however some "landmarks" and bottlenecks, which in a revolutionary manner directed the evolution, and the article tries to establish the order of these events. The article advocates that a possible order in the emergence of life is that the first milestone in prebiotic evolution is at the emergence of homochirality in proteins. The homochirality of peptides is, however, with instability and racemization which causes aging of the peptides and mortality. The metabolism and genetics are established through homochiral enzymes in the Earth's crust for $\approx$ 4 Gyr ago. Finally, the cells with cell division are established in the Hot Springs environment at the interface between the crust and the Hadean Ocean.
title Milestones at the Origin of Life
topic Populations and Evolution
Earth and Planetary Astrophysics
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2412.14754