[meteorite-list] Phosphonates in Meteorites May Hold the Key to the Origin of Life on Earth

From: Ron Baalke <baalke_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Mon Jan 24 16:19:38 2005
Message-ID: <200501242119.NAA05381_at_zagami.jpl.nasa.gov>

http://www.innovations-report.de/html/berichte/biowissenschaften_chemie/bericht-39228.html

Clues to our birth may be written in space
Innovations Report
January 24, 2005

Extraterrestrial molecules found in meteorites may hold the key to the
origin of life on Earth, according to chemistry research at the University.

Dr Terence Kee and a team from Leeds and Bradford universities are
examining a particular source of phosphorus found naturally only in
space to discover whether it could have helped form the building blocks
of life.

Phosphorus is found in all living cells, but some scientists doubt that
the most common form of phosphorus - phosphate - helped form life on
earth due to its insolubility in water. Dr Kee believes the earliest
forms of DNA/RNA could have been built from other phosphorus-containing
molecules called phosphonates, because they are water-soluble and more
reactive.

However, these phosphonates are only found on Earth as biological
products - for example, in the metabolism of certain marine creatures.

The project was inspired by a 1992 account identifying phosphonates in a
meteorite which crashed on earth, confirming that these had been created
in interstellar space. "I've always had an interest in phosphonates but
before reading work on the Murchison meteorite, I'd never considered
they might have a role to play in the origins of life on Earth," said Dr
Kee.

These exotic molecules now form the basis of the PHOSMETIC project,
refereed by the Nobel Laureate Sir Harry Kroto. The team will reproduce
these phosphonates under "extra-terrestrial" conditions in a laboratory.
Important molecules called phosphaalkynes - present in interstellar gas
clouds and structurally similar to phosphonates - will be used. They
will be irradiated with UV light in the presence of water, simulating
the conditions found in space. Dr Kee aims to provide the first direct
chemical link between phosphorus compounds found within interstellar gas
clouds and those incorporated within solar system meteorites and ice
grains: "I see the PHOSMETIC project as addressing one of several major
problems in origin-of-life studies in which phosphorus, and phosphonates
in particular, could play a major role."
Received on Mon 24 Jan 2005 04:19:26 PM PST