The Molecular Origins of Life (original) (raw)

The origin of life was an event probably unique in the Earth's history, and reconstructing this event is like assembling a puzzle made up of many pieces. These pieces are composed of information acquired from many different disciplines. The aim of this 1999 book is to integrate discoveries in astronomy, planetology, palaeontology, biology and chemistry, and use this knowledge to present plausible scenarios that give us a better understanding of the likely origin of life on Earth. Twenty-three top experts contribute chapters that discuss everything from the environment and atmosphere of the early Earth, through the appearance of organic molecules in the prebiotic environment, to primitive chiral chemical systems capable of self-replication and evolution by mutation. The book also discusses various clues to the origin of life that can be obtained by a study of the past and present microbial world, as well as from Saturn's moon Titan and the planet Mars. Chemists, biologists, earth scientists, and astronomers will find this book a thought-provoking summary of our knowledge of this extraordinary event.

‘Every chapter in this book is relevant and interesting … a ‘must’ for the departmental library.’

Dorian PritchardSource: British Society for Developmental Biology

Contents

Contents

Select Frontmatter

Select Contents

Select Contributors

Select THE MOLECULAR ORIGINS OF LIFE CAMBRIDGE

Select Introduction

Select Part I - Setting the stage

Select 1 - The origin of the atmosphere

Select 2 - The early atmosphere as a source of biogenic compounds

Select 3 - The endogenous synthesis of organic compounds

Select 4 - Hydrothermal systems

Select 5 - Cosmic origin of the biosphere

Select 6 - Clues from the origin of the Solar System: meteorites

Select 7 - Micrometeorites on the early Earth

Select 8 - Membrane compartments in prebiotic evolution

Select 9 - Origin of life in an iron–sulfur world

Select 10 - Clues from present-day biology: the thioester world

Select 11 - Origins of the RNA world

Select 12 - Catalyzed RNA synthesis for the RNA world

Select 13 - Catalysis in the RNA world

Select 14 - Self-replication and autocatalysis

Select Part IV - Clues from the bacterial world

Select 15 - Hyperthermophiles and their possible role as ancestors of modern life

Select 16 - Tracing the roots of the Universal Tree of Life

Select Part V - Clues from other planets

Select 17 - Titan

Select 18 - Life on Mars

Select Conclusion

Select Index

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