Cavitation-Induced Synthesis of Biogenic Molecules on Primordial Earth.

ABSTRACT: Despite decades of research, how life began on Earth remains one of the most challenging scientific conundrums facing modern science. It is agreed that the first step was synthesis of organic compounds essential to obtain amino acids and their polymers. Several possible scenarios that could accomplish this step, using simple inorganic molecules, have been suggested and studied over the years. The present study examines, using atomistic reactive molecular dynamics simulations, the long-standing suggestion that natural cavitation in primordial oceans was a dominant mechanism of organic molecule synthesis. The simulations allow, for the first time, direct observation of the rich and complex sonochemistry occurring inside a collapsing bubble filled with water and dissolved gases of the early a

SUBMITTER: Kalson NH 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5620973 | biostudies-literature | 2017 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature