Concomitant formation of protocells and prebiotic compounds under a plausible early Earth atmosphere.

ABSTRACT: Revealing the origin of life and unambiguously detecting fossil remains of the earliest organisms are closely related aspects of the same scientific research. The synthesis of prebiotic molecular building blocks of life and the first compartmentalization into protocells have been considered two events apart in time, space, or both. We conducted lightning experiments in borosilicate reactors filled with a mixture of gases mimicking plausible geochemical conditions of early Earth. In addition to the variety of prebiotic organic molecules synthesized in these experiments, we investigated the micrometer-thick silica-induced organic film that covers the walls of the reactors and floats at the water-gas interface. We found that the film is formed by aggregation of HCN-polymer nanoclusters whenev

SUBMITTER: Jenewein C 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11745316 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature