Article: Darwin's warm pond theory tested
- From: "Robert Karl Stonjek" <rstonjek@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Wed, 15 Feb 2006 01:03:08 -0500 (EST)
Darwin's warm pond theory tested
By Rebecca Morelle
BBC News science reporter
Life on Earth was unlikely to have emerged from volcanic springs or
hydrothermal vents, according to a leading US researcher.
Experiments carried out in volcanic pools suggest they do not provide the
right conditions to spawn life.
The findings will be discussed on Tuesday at an international two-day
meeting to explore the latest thinking on the origin of life on Earth.
It takes place at the Royal Society, the UK's academy of science, in London.
Darwin's theory
David Deamer, emeritus professor of chemistry at the University of
California at Santa Cruz, said ahead of his presentation: "It is about 140
years since Charles Darwin suggested that life may have begun in a 'warm
little pond'. We are now testing Darwin's idea, but in 'hot little puddles'
associated with the volcanic regions of Kamchatka [Russia] and Mount Lassen
[California, US]."
"The results are surprising and in some ways disappointing. It seems that
hot acidic waters containing clay do not provide the right conditions for
chemicals to assemble themselves into 'pioneer organisms.'"
Professor Deamer said that amino acids and DNA, the "building blocks" for
life, and phosphate, another essential ingredient, cling to the surfaces of
clay particles in the volcanic pools.
"The reason this is significant is that it has been proposed that clay
promotes interesting chemical reactions relating to the origin of life," he
explained.
"However," he added, "in our experiments, the organic compounds became so
strongly held to the clay particles that they could not undergo any further
chemical reactions."
Full Text at the BBC
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/4702336.stm
Posted by
Robert Karl Stonjek
.
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