Thermodynamics and Kinetics of Spontaneous Generation

Hull, D. E.

doi:10.1038/186693a0

Cited by 25 publications

(11 citation statements)

References 4 publications

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“…The rates of production would be limited by the (19). A surfacecatalyzed synthesis of organic matter of the kind we have described would alleviate this difficulty to a considerable degree by making available for organic syntheses the large amount of solar energy in the 2000-to 3000-i region, by providing a mechanism for concentrating the products, and by extending the period of prebiotic organic synthesis beyond the time when the earth lost its hydrogen-rich atmosphere.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Photocatalytic Production of Organic Compounds from CO and H ₂ O in a Simulated Martian Atmosphere

Hubbard

Hardy

Horowitz

1971

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

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Current ideas regarding the abiogenic synthesis of organic compounds on the planets rest on the theories of Oparin (1) and Urey (2), and on the experiments of Miller (3) and others, showing that the synthesis of biologically important compounds on the primitive earth was favored by the chemically reducing character of the primitive atmosphere. The importance of an excess of a reduced gas such as hydrogen, methane, or ammonia in laboratory simulations of these processes has often been pointed out (4). In view of these findings, it appears a priori unlikely that a synthesis of organic matter would be demonstrable in a gas mixture compositionally similar to the oxidized atmosphere of Mars. This atmosphere consists almost entirely of CO2 (5) with 0.1-0.3% CO (5, 6) and a small, seasonally variable quantity of water (7). Small amounts of other gases are not excluded. The mean surface pressure is about 6.5 mb (8). Solar ultraviolet (UV) reaching the surface is filtered through the CO2, which effectively absorbs wavelengths shorter than 1950 A. Thus, little energy is available at the surface for the activation of C02, CO, or water.We have performed organic synthesis experiments with mixtures of C02, CO, and H20 exposed to UV in the presence of soil or powdered vycor glass. The purpose of these tests was to uncover possible sources of error in an experiment, planned for the first Mars lander, designed to detect biosynthesis of organic matter in Martian soil (9). The The reservoirs were then brought to a total pressure of 1 atm by filling with diluent gas and with about 50 ml of liquid water previously flushed with the diluent gas. The [14C]CO reservoirs were attached to a pyrex manifold which had five positions for attachment of sample chambers. The latter consisted of quartz tubes (1.3 X 8 cm) with a detachable pyrex section containing a stopcock. Each chamber had a gas volume of about 5.5 ml. The chambers were evacuated and flushed with diluent gas, then filled manometrically to 1 atm with ['4C]CO and diluent gases. The pressure in the reservoir was maintained at 1 atm by adding water flushed with diluent gas.The vacuum system contained a liquid nitrogen trap to prevent diffusion of impurities from the mechanical vacuum pump. The vacuum indicator was a Wallace and Tiernan Gage. The gas reservoirs, manifold, and sample chambers were constructed of new glass that presumably had never been exposed to mercury. Also, all glassware was cleaned with 8 N HNO3 to minimize adventitious mercury contamination.The organic soil was an arable, fertile, brown soil with particle size less than 1 mm. Before exposure to [14C]CO, the soil was sterilized overnight in an oven at 1750C and then equilibrated for 1 hr at 100% relative humidity at 23°C.The vycor substratum was 80-100 mesh, highly fractured particles with a surface area of 173 m2/g. Before use, the vycor was heated to 7200C in air and equilibrated with water vapor as described above.Sample chambers containing gas mixtures were irradiated in a horizontal position with the soil...

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Photocatalytic Production of Organic Compounds from CO and H ₂ O in a Simulated Martian Atmosphere

Hubbard

Hardy

Horowitz

1971

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

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“…HCN polymer was obtained from the polymerization of 0.1 M KCN brought to pH 8 at room temperature. Spark discharge polymer was obtained from the action of a Tesla coil on a gas mixture of 200 mm CH 4 , 200 mm NH 3 , and 500 ml H 2 O in a 3-liter flask for 6 days (18).…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Oceanic protection of prebiotic organic compounds from UV radiation

Cleaves

Miller²

1998

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

113

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It is frequently stated that UV light would cause massive destruction of prebiotic organic compounds because of the absence of an ozone layer. The elevated UV f lux of the early sun compounds this problem. This applies to organic compounds of both terrestrial and extraterrestrial origin. Attempts to deal with this problem generally involve atmospheric absorbers. We show here that prebiotic organic polymers as well as several inorganic compounds are sufficient to protect oceanic organic molecules from UV degradation. This aqueous protection is in addition to any atmospheric UV absorbers and should be a ubiquitous planetary phenomenon serving to increase the size of planetary habitable zones.

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“…Many of these experiments have been conducted at anhydrous conditions which strongly favor the dehydration reactions leading to peptide bond formation (Meggy, 1953(Meggy, , 1956Kovacs et aI., 1953;Kovacs and Konyers, 1954;Pavel, 1957a, 1957b;Fox et aI., 1957Fox et aI., , 1959Fox et aI., , 1963Harada, 1958, 1960;Harada and Fox, 1958, 1960Vegotsky et aI., 1958;Fox, 1963Fox, , 1964Fox, , 1965Rohlfing, 1967Rohlfing, , 1976Fox and Waehneldt, 1968;Rohlfing, 1972, 1974;Phillips and Melius, 1974;Snyder and Fox, 1975;Rohlfing and McAlhaney, 1976;Fouche and Rohlfing, 1976;Temussi et aI., 1976;Fox and Dose, 1977;Grote et aI., 1978;Kokufuta et aI., 1978;Lacey et aI., 1979;Harada and Matsuyama, 1979;Hartmann et aI., 1981;Fox and Nakashima, 1981; among others). None of these results can be applied directly to hydrothermal systems because of the anhydrous nature of the experiments.…”

Section: Thermal Polymerizationmentioning

confidence: 98%

“…Helped by the simplicity and dramatic qualities of Miller's beautiful experiment the "primordial soup" doctrine became established to the point at which most scientists seem to believe it. But there have always been doubts, particularly more recently (Hull, 1960;Hulett, 1969;Cairns-Smith, 1982;Shapiro, 1986). For one thing the idea that there was ever a strongly reducing atmosphere has little to support it, beyond a belief that such an atmosphere would have been essential for life to have started (Chang et ai., 1983).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 96%

Marine Hydrothermal Systems and the Origin of Life

Holm¹

1992

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Thermodynamics and Kinetics of Spontaneous Generation

Cited by 25 publications

References 4 publications

Photocatalytic Production of Organic Compounds from CO and H ₂ O in a Simulated Martian Atmosphere

Photocatalytic Production of Organic Compounds from CO and H ₂ O in a Simulated Martian Atmosphere

Oceanic protection of prebiotic organic compounds from UV radiation

Marine Hydrothermal Systems and the Origin of Life

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Thermodynamics and Kinetics of Spontaneous Generation

Cited by 25 publications

References 4 publications

Photocatalytic Production of Organic Compounds from CO and H 2 O in a Simulated Martian Atmosphere

Photocatalytic Production of Organic Compounds from CO and H 2 O in a Simulated Martian Atmosphere

Oceanic protection of prebiotic organic compounds from UV radiation

Marine Hydrothermal Systems and the Origin of Life

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Photocatalytic Production of Organic Compounds from CO and H ₂ O in a Simulated Martian Atmosphere

Photocatalytic Production of Organic Compounds from CO and H ₂ O in a Simulated Martian Atmosphere