Peptides on Stardust May Have Provided a Shortcut to Life

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Peptides on Stardust May Have Provided a Shortcut to Life
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The spontaneous formation of peptide molecules on cosmic dust in interstellar clouds could have implications for theories about the origin of life. Via QuantaMagazine

through a series of calculations that a more direct way to make peptides could exist under the conditions available in space, inside the extremely dense and frigid clouds of dust and gas that linger between the stars. These molecular clouds, the nurseries of new stars and solar systems, are packed with cosmic dust and chemicals, some of the most abundant of which are carbon monoxide, atomic carbon and ammonia.

To test their claim, the researchers experimentally simulated the conditions found in molecular clouds. Inside an ultrahigh vacuum chamber, they mimicked the icy surface of cosmic dust particles by depositing carbon monoxide and ammonia onto substrate plates chilled to minus 263 degrees Celsius. They then deposited carbon atoms on top of this ice layer to simulate their condensation inside molecular clouds.

First the peptides would have to endure the perils of their journey through the universe, from radiation to water exposure inside asteroids, both of which can fragment the molecules. Then they’d have to survive the impact of hitting a planet. And even if they made it through all that, they would still have to go through a lot of chemical evolution to get large enough to fold into proteins that are useful for biological chemistry, Glavin said.

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