Urey-Miller Archives

The schematic depiction of the dual role of amino acid monomers in nonenzymatic RNA replication (left panel, blue dotted box) and prebiotic compartmentalization (right panel, green dotted box). The background is of a hypothetical early Earth geothermal pool niche, which depicts molecules in a heterogeneous prebiotic milieu. In the case of nonenzymatic replication (left panel), the coexistence of amino acid monomers (stick models) along with the template sequence and the primer RNA (the brown and green colour strands, respectively, in the RNA cartoon), impacts the incoming monomers’ addition during the copying of information (activated nucleotides, multicoloured floating molecules). In case of prebiotic compartmentalization (right panel), these amino acid monomers act as a buffering agent while coexisting with fatty acids, and facilitate robust vesicle formation even at suboptimal pH. -- Astrobiology

Biochemistry & Organic Chemistry, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Genomics, Proteomics, Bioinformatics, Origin & Evolution of Life, Status Report

Amino Acids as Molecular Linchpins in the Fundamental Prebiotic Processes of RNA Copying and Vesicle Formation

by Keith CowingApril 1, 2026April 1, 2026

In addition to being delivered via exogenous means (e.g., chondritic meteorites and comets), amino acids are hypothesized to have been present on early Earth via Urey–Miller-type abiotic processes.

Biochemistry & Organic Chemistry, Biophysics, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Genomics, Proteomics, Bioinformatics, Origin & Evolution of Life, Status Report

Order Of Amino Acid Recruitment Into The Genetic Code Resolved By The Last Universal Common Ancestor’s Protein Domains

by Keith CowingDecember 27, 2024

The current “consensus” order in which amino acids were added to the genetic code is based on potentially biased criteria, such as the absence of sulfur-containing amino acids from the […]