Clays and the Origin of Life: The Experiments
Name
life-12-00259.pdf
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3.48 MB
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Adobe PDF
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133f5b64ec6fb23c53417d09e672fd94
Author(s)
Kloprogge, Jacob Teunis (Theo)
Hartman, Hyman
Date Issued
February 9, 2022
Journal
Life
Publisher
MDPI AG
Citation
Kloprogge, J.T.; Hartman, H. Clays and the Origin of Life: The Experiments. Life 12 (2): 259 (2022)
Version
Final published version
Abstract
There are three groups of scientists dominating the search for the origin of life: the organic chemists (the Soup), the molecular biologists (RNA world), and the inorganic chemists (metabolism and transient-state metal ions), all of which have experimental adjuncts. It is time for Clays and the Origin of Life to have its experimental adjunct. The clay data coming from Mars and carbonaceous chondrites have necessitated a review of the role that clays played in the origin of life on Earth. The data from Mars have suggested that Fe-clays such as nontronite, ferrous saponites, and several other clays were formed on early Mars when it had sufficient water. This raised the question of the possible role that these clays may have played in the origin of life on Mars. This has put clays front and center in the studies on the origin of life not only on Mars but also here on Earth. One of the major questions is: What was the catalytic role of Fe-clays in the origin and development of metabolism here on Earth? First, there is the recent finding of a chiral amino acid (isovaline) that formed on the surface of a clay mineral on several carbonaceous chondrites. This points to the formation of amino acids on the surface of clay minerals on carbonaceous chondrites from simpler molecules, e.g., CO2, NH3, and HCN. Additionally, there is the catalytic role of small organic molecules, such as dicarboxylic acids and amino acids found on carbonaceous chondrites, in the formation of Fe-clays themselves. Amino acids and nucleotides adsorb on clay surfaces on Earth and subsequently polymerize. All of these observations and more must be subjected to strict experimental analysis. This review provides an overview of what has happened and is now happening in the experimental clay world related to the origin of life. The emphasis is on smectite-group clay minerals, such as montmorillonite and nontronite.
MIT Department
Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences
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Creative Commons Attribution
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DOI of Published Version
10.3390/life12020259
