An attempt to unravel the 'origin of life' with an algorithm
Questions about when, where, and how life was born have been asked for a long time, but no conclusions have yet been reached. To solve this mystery, a research team at the Polish Academy of Sciences is trying to solve 'how a complex molecule like life is born from basic molecules such as water and nitrogen' with an algorithm.
Synthetic connectivity, emergence, and self-regeneration in the network of prebiotic chemistry | Science
Algorithm discovers how six simple molecules could evolve into life's building blocks | Research | Chemistry World
https://www.chemistryworld.com/news/algorithm-discovers-how-six-simple-molecules-could-evolve-into-lifes-building-blocks/4012505.article
Although it has been demonstrated that various organic reactions can occur under early Earth conditions, little is known about the 'origin of life.' The main reason for this is that there are so many molecules that may be born on the early Earth, and it is difficult to identify them.
In order to elucidate the origin of such life, the research team of the Polish Academy of Sciences conducted a study to simulate 'a molecule that is born when basic molecules are combined'. There are six basic starting molecules: water, hydrogen cyanide, ammonia, hydrogen sulfide, nitrogen, and methane, which are thought to have been common in the early Earth. The purpose of the research is to identify 'molecules that lead to the origin of life' that may be born in an environment where these six types of molecules are abundant.
If simulations are repeated up to 7 generations under the condition that not only basic molecules such as water and nitrogen but also born molecules can react with each other, there are about 35,000 types of molecules that can be born. Of these, 50 types of molecules are linked to the origin of life. The image below is a part of the figure showing the molecules that can be born from 6 kinds of basic molecules for each generation, and the red color is the molecule that leads to the origin of life. The image shows the reaction pathways leading to citric acid (structural formula on the left) and uric acid (structural formula on the right), which are important for the origin of life.
This study suggests that although six types of molecules that were abundant in the early Earth could give rise to molecules that lead to the origin of life, in most cases, molecules that do not lead to the origin of life are born. Regarding the difference between molecules that lead to the origin of life and those that do not, the research team pointed out that 'molecules that lead to the origin of life are characterized by being easily soluble in water and thermodynamically stable.' It explains that it is in line with the conventional wisdom that life was born in water.
The research team commented, 'This simulation has discovered 20 new reaction pathways that produce molecules that lead to the origin of life.' He says that computer programs play an active role in fields that humans are unfamiliar with, such as simulating molecules.
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