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Geesh. Ever since I can remember --which is a long time -- the primordial soup theory (wikipedia) has reigned supreme as an explanation for the origins of life. Now however, a team from University College London is calling it into question.
Arguing that UV radiation fails to live up to the demands of Thermodynamic Theory, the investigators have looked to the seminal work of geochemist Michael Russell who examined heat and chemical processes in and around deep sea vents.
Wiley.com (from the Journal of BioEssays):
The soup theory was proposed in 1929 when J.B.S Haldane published his influential essay on the origin of life in which he argued that UV radiation provided the energy to convert methane, ammonia and water into the first organic compounds in the oceans of the early earth. However critics of the soup theory point out that there is no sustained driving force to make anything react; and without an energy source, life as we know it can’t exist.
And,
“Thermodynamic constraints mean that chemiosmosis is strictly necessary for carbon and energy metabolism in all organisms that grow from simple chemical ingredients [autotrophy] today, and presumably the first free-living cells,” said Lane. “Here we consider how the earliest cells might have harnessed a geochemically created force and then learned to make their own.”
Geesh. Ever since I can remember --which is a long time -- the primordial soup theory (wikipedia) has reigned supreme as an explanation for the origins of life. Now however, a team from University College London is calling it into question.
Arguing that UV radiation fails to live up to the demands of Thermodynamic Theory, the investigators have looked to the seminal work of geochemist Michael Russell who examined heat and chemical processes in and around deep sea vents.
Wiley.com (from the Journal of BioEssays):
The soup theory was proposed in 1929 when J.B.S Haldane published his influential essay on the origin of life in which he argued that UV radiation provided the energy to convert methane, ammonia and water into the first organic compounds in the oceans of the early earth. However critics of the soup theory point out that there is no sustained driving force to make anything react; and without an energy source, life as we know it can’t exist.
And,
“Thermodynamic constraints mean that chemiosmosis is strictly necessary for carbon and energy metabolism in all organisms that grow from simple chemical ingredients [autotrophy] today, and presumably the first free-living cells,” said Lane. “Here we consider how the earliest cells might have harnessed a geochemically created force and then learned to make their own.”
2 comments:
I had never thought even in my dream that there can be a theory called soup theory. It was really interesting article.
LOL! I never thought there would be a graphic with Campbell's soup on the label.
The most interesting aspect to me was the use of Thermodynamics.
Thanks for commenting, btw. Good to hear from folks.
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