[The Hebrew University of Jerusalem] Researchers have identified a simple form of molecular cooperation that may have helped life’s earliest building blocks become more stable and organized.
membranes
Posted inAstrochemistry, Atmospheres, Climate, Weather, Biochemistry & Organic Chemistry, Biophysics, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Genomics, Proteomics, Bioinformatics, Origin & Evolution of Life, Status Report
Chemical Routes to Primitive Membranes: Prebiotic Lipid Formation at the Origin of Life
The origin of life is, to the best of our knowledge, impossible to imagine without the formation of complex prebiotic biomolecules such as RNA, DNA, proteins and lipids.
Posted inBiochemistry & Organic Chemistry, Biophysics, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Genomics, Proteomics, Bioinformatics, Origin & Evolution of Life, Press Release, Titan
NASA Research Shows Path Toward Protocells on Titan
NASA research has shown that cell-like compartments called vesicles could form naturally in the lakes of Saturn’s moon Titan.
Posted inBiochemistry & Organic Chemistry, Biophysics, Genomics, Proteomics, Bioinformatics, Origin & Evolution of Life, Status Report
Evolution Associated With The Membrane-takeover At An Early Stage Of Life
Modern cell membranes are primarily composed of phospholipids, while primitive cell membranes in the beginning of life are believed to have formed from simpler lipids (such as fatty acids) synthesized […]
![Rapid coalescence and RNA exchange between unstable protocells. (A) Schematic of preparation of coacervate model protocells. Aqueous solutions of PDDA (positively charged) and ATP (negatively charged) are mixed, along with fluorescently labeled protein or oligonucleotide molecules, to make fluorescently distinct protocell populations. (B and C) Confocal micrographs showing the coalescence of unstable protocells during mixing. Fluorescently distinct PDDA-ATP droplet populations containing fluorophore-labeled BSA or RNA were mixed, and the images were collected after 5 min. Coalescence is evident from the overlapping of red [CF488-BSA in (B) or Cy2-RNA-6nt in (C)] and blue (CF640-BSA) fluorescence in a majority of the droplets. Scale bars, 25 μm. (D and E) Confocal micrographs and the accompanying FRAP plot showing a fast (timescale of a few minutes) recovery of fluorescence from Cy2-labeled RNA of (D) 6 nt in length and (E) 49 nt in length in the photobleached droplets, suggesting a rapid exchange of RNA molecules between protocells. The fluorescence microscopy images are false colored for clarity. Scale bars, 25 μm. -- Science / UChicago](https://i0.wp.com/astrobiology.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/New-Research-Suggests-Rainwater.png?resize=1200%2C719&ssl=1)
Posted inAtmospheres, Climate, Weather, Biochemistry & Organic Chemistry, Biophysics, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Genomics, Proteomics, Bioinformatics, Habitable Zones, Microbiology & Virology, Origin & Evolution of Life, Press Release, Water/Hycean Worlds & Oceanography
New Research Suggests Rainwater Helped Form The First Protocell Walls
One of the major unanswered questions about the origin of life is how droplets of RNA floating around the primordial soup turned into the membrane-protected packets of life we call […]
Posted inBiochemistry & Organic Chemistry, Biophysics, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Fossils & Paleontology, Genomics, Proteomics, Bioinformatics, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Microbiology & Virology, Status Report
Prebiotic Membrane Structures Mimic the Morphology of Alleged Early Traces of Life on Earth
Elucidating compositions of the first cell membranes requires experiments with molecules and chemical conditions representative of early Earth. The molecules used are described as ‘prebiotically plausible’, i.e., they could have […]
Posted inBiochemistry & Organic Chemistry, Biophysics, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Genomics, Proteomics, Bioinformatics, Origin & Evolution of Life, Status Report
Membrane Permeability Selection Drove the Stereochemistry of Life
Early in the evolution of life a proto-metabolic network was encapsulated within a membrane compartment. The permeability characteristics of the membrane determined several key functions of this network by determining […]
Posted inBiosignatures & Paleobiology, Genomics, Proteomics, Bioinformatics, Origin & Evolution of Life, Status Report
Membrane Structure Obtained In An Experimental Evolution Process
Recently, an evolution experiment was carried out in a cyclic process, which involved periodic vesicle formation in combination with peptide and vesicle selection.