Version 1
: Received: 21 January 2022 / Approved: 25 January 2022 / Online: 25 January 2022 (04:17:03 CET)
Version 2
: Received: 12 January 2023 / Approved: 13 January 2023 / Online: 13 January 2023 (08:40:36 CET)
How to cite:
Schreiber, U. Storage of biochemical information as the start of life: A hypothetical model for the development of the first cell. Preprints2022, 2022010364. https://doi.org/10.20944/preprints202201.0364.v1
Schreiber, U. Storage of biochemical information as the start of life: A hypothetical model for the development of the first cell. Preprints 2022, 2022010364. https://doi.org/10.20944/preprints202201.0364.v1
Schreiber, U. Storage of biochemical information as the start of life: A hypothetical model for the development of the first cell. Preprints2022, 2022010364. https://doi.org/10.20944/preprints202201.0364.v1
APA Style
Schreiber, U. (2022). Storage of biochemical information as the start of life: A hypothetical model for the development of the first cell. Preprints. https://doi.org/10.20944/preprints202201.0364.v1
Chicago/Turabian Style
Schreiber, U. 2022 "Storage of biochemical information as the start of life: A hypothetical model for the development of the first cell" Preprints. https://doi.org/10.20944/preprints202201.0364.v1
Abstract
The storage of biochemical information, which is a prerequisite for the development of the first cell, is an unsolved problem affecting all concepts of the origin of life. However, if the protected environment in the continental crust is taken into account, completely new possibilities emerge for identifying processes that may have been crucial for the formation of the first cell. Under this background, we can hypothesize that, before cellular life began, a self-sustaining cycle of molecular reaction steps with information storage in RNA existed outside of a cell. This cycle was made possible in an open system bound to gas-permeable tectonic fracture zones with a high proportion of CO2 and N2. The formation of peptides and vesicles in supercritical CO2 and the chemical evolution of peptides have already been proven for the upper continental crust. Further considerations include the interactions of vesicles with catalytic peptides and the emergence of proto-tRNA. In combination with the formation of proto-tRNA synthetases, which consist of only two amino acid species and associated proto-tRNAs, the first RNA as an information storage system could have been formed with the information of proto-enzymes.
Keywords
origin of life; hydrothermal biochemistry, information storage, continental crust model, supercritical fluids, open system, binary proto-synthetase
Subject
Chemistry and Materials Science, Organic Chemistry
Copyright:
This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
