The start of the Abiogenesis: Preservation of homochirality in proteins as a necessary and sufficient condition for the establishment of the metabolism

Publikation: Bidrag til tidsskriftTidsskriftartikelForskningpeer review

Abstract

Biosystems contain an almost infinite amount of vital important details, which together ensure their life. There are, however, some common structures and reactions in the systems: the homochirality of carbohydrates and proteins, the metabolism and the genetics. The Abiogenesis, or the origin of life, is probably not a result of a series of single events, but rather the result of a gradual process with increasing complexity of molecules and chemical reactions, and the prebiotic synthesis of molecules might not have left a trace of the establishment of structures and reactions at the beginning of the evolution. But alternatively, one might be able to determine some order in the formation of the chemical denominators in the Abiogenesis. Here we review experimental results and present a model of the start of the Abionenesis, where the spontaneous formation of homochirality in proteins is the precondition for the establishment of homochirality of carbohydrates and for the metabolism at the start of the Abiogenesis.
OriginalsprogEngelsk
TidsskriftJournal of Theoretical Biology
Udgave nummer451
Sider (fra-til)117-121
Antal sider5
ISSN0022-5193
DOI
StatusUdgivet - 9 maj 2018

Citer dette