Theoretical origin of life: more hype about protolife cells (Introduction)

by David Turell , Sunday, March 03, 2024, 19:05 (54 days ago) @ David Turell

All by hunt and peck lab trials;

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2024/02/240229124507.htm

Now, Scripps Research scientists have discovered one plausible pathway for how protocells may have first formed and chemically progressed to allow for a diversity of functions.

"The findings suggest that a chemical process called phosphorylation (where phosphate groups are added to the molecule) may have occurred earlier than previously expected. This would lead to more structurally complex, double chained protocells capable of harboring chemical reactions and dividing with a diverse range of functionalities. By revealing how protocells formed, scientists can better understand how early evolution could have taken place.

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"They sought to examine if phosphates may have been involved during the formation of protocells. Phosphates are present in nearly every chemical reaction in the body, so Krishnamurthy suspected they may have been present earlier than previously believed.

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"The scientists wanted to mimic plausible prebiotic conditions -- the environments that existed prior to the emergence of life. They first identified three likely mixtures of chemicals that could potentially create vesicles, spherical structures of lipids similar to protocells. The chemicals used included fatty acids and glycerol (a common byproduct of soap production that may have existed during early Earth). Next, they observed the reactions of these mixtures and added additional chemicals to create new mixtures. These solutions were cooled and heated on repeat overnight with some shaking to promote chemical reactions.

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"'The vesicles were able to transition from a fatty acid environment to a phospholipid environment during our experiments, suggesting a similar chemical environment could have existed 4 billion years ago," says first author Sunil Pulletikurti, postdoctoral researcher in Krishnamurthy's lab.

"It turns out that fatty acids and glycerol may have undergone phosphorylation to create that more stable, double chain structure. In particular, glycerol derived fatty acid esters may have led to vesicles with different tolerances to metal ions, temperatures, and pH -- a critical step in diversifying evolution.

"'We've discovered one plausible pathway for how phospholipids could have emerged during this chemical evolutionary process," says Deniz. "It's exciting to uncover how early chemistries may have transitioned to allow for life on Earth. Our findings also hint at a wealth of intriguing physics that may have played key functional roles along the way to modern cells.'"

Comment: intelligent lab folks nurse a desired process along to preconceived success and then cheer the expected result as telling us how life might have started. The usual origin of life garbage, critiqued severely in earlier entries.