If you are able to get a copy of the latest Discover Magazine, I recommend you pick it up. They have a very interesting article about an up and coming theory that life began in the ice. Stanley Miller seemed to have a preference for an ice cold version of abiogenesis, judging by his book "The Origin of Life on Earth" in which he noted that prebiotic molecules have much longer lifespans in ice than in warm water. Before he passed away, he completed a 25 year experiment that he had tended to everyday. It may be the next big break through in prebiotic research. He had mixed ammonia and cyanide and left it to freeze. When it was done, he took it out, and noticed it had had turned a familiar amber color. Upon analyzation it had seven amino acids and eleven nucleobases (building blocks of RNA). To get an idea of just what advantages a cold origin of life has, be sure and check out the following article:
"Did Life Begin in Ice?"
Maybe they're on to something...
9 comments:
This makes sense. In the work we're doing in Protein Purification right now, we have to keep our protein samples in an ice bath -- the Energy of activation for hydrolysis is really low, so if they hit room temperature, the polypeptides will likely hydrolyze, separating them back into their component parts.
Good for Miller!
There's some more info about this process, including some more supporting theories, here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ozbFerzjkz4
Every day for 25 years..wow.
This is very interesting because most of us out here in layman's world can get our heads around the ascent of Life starting from the squiggly thingamabobs..not to put too fine a point on it..but those first few steps..the TA-DA stage is the one that needs to be resolved and refined for mass consumption.
Amber coloured liquids on ice is an excellent place to start.
Very nifty!
This could be the break we are looking for! (forced enthusiasum)
Explains why we haven't found life in peanut butter.
this article is the stupidest thing
why would anyone spend such a long time writing about evolution
evolution is what idiots believe in
don't be an idiot
do you really think that men and monkeys are same?
if you do... how stupid are you?
idots
you a** is busted for writing such a bull sh**! You motherf*****.
You so stupid that you don't even know how stupid you are
If you go to the discovermagazine website, this article is available for free in the online February 2008 issue under "Human Origins". The article is entitled "Did Life Evolve in Ice?" You may also be interested in http://astrobio.net/news/
To what the anonymous person said below...
It makes more sense than believing an invisible man created us.
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