ORIGIN OF LIFE

Our ability to search for the chemical origin of life is much more advanced from the time when many "classic" origins of life experiments were carried out. Simple paper chromatography was previously used for the identification of amino acids in model prebiotic reactions. Advances in analytical techniques such as GC, MS, HPLC, and NMR provide far more detailed analyses of the complex chemical mixtures that result from model prebiotic reactions, including the identification of unexpected products. Modifications to these analytical techniques allow better assessment and quantification of the formation of products produced at very low concentrations under unique circumstances, such as on the surface of minerals, in the presence of UV light or under day/night cycling conditions. Identification of possible precursor molecules for the biological molecules we know today, such as sugars, nucleobases and amino acids, could lead us to a better understanding of how biomacromolecules evolved.....