It's certainly a timely and topical note. I found it interesting.
--John
Genesis tests suggest entire universe ripe for life=20
<Picture: meteorite>
August 10, 1996
Web posted at: 2:00 p.m. EDT=20
WASHINGTON (Reuter) -- The discovery this week of possible evidence of =
life on Mars has electrified debate over whether the universe is a =
barren void or a nursery pregnant with life.=20
Scientists who have come stunningly close to repeating genesis in a test =
tube say the building blocks for life exist everywhere -- the challenge =
is putting them together.=20
"The origin of life is a relatively easy thing and there's a wide =
variety of conditions under which it will take place," said Stanley =
Miller, professor emeritus at the University of California at San Diego =
and a pioneer in the field.=20
"Perhaps the remarkable thing is that even though Mars is not a =
favorable environment, the origin of life took place."=20
Astronomers have found that the same gases of our solar system are =
present throughout the universe. Efforts to make microscopic life from =
these basic elements on Earth suggest the chance of life arising under =
similar circumstances is the same everywhere, chemists, biologists and =
other experts say.=20
"It seems fairly likely that life similar to ours, if there is water =
available ... would evolve in other environments in our galaxy or our =
universe," said James Ferris, a leading researcher and editor of the =
journal "Origins of Life and Evolution of the Biosphere."=20
Underlying much of the research is the question: was the development of =
life on Earth unique, or did the universe's chemical elements naturally =
evolve into life?=20
The answer appears to be that at least the chemical reactions that set =
the stage for early life would be similar everywhere, but resultant =
living organisms would differ because of the genetic mutations in =
evolution.=20
"If you've got the same starting materials and the same conditions, =
you're going to get the same compounds, that's for sure," Miller said. =
"The real question is whether or not there are very chance elements in =
the formation of life."=20
Miller first suggested that life was a natural evolution when, in a =
much-heralded 1953 experiment, he mixed basic gases approximating the =
Earth's early atmosphere with an electric charge inside a glass chamber =
and produced amino acids, a primitive building block of life.=20
It seemed like science was on the cusp of conjuring up creations in the =
laboratory, but the next 43 years were to present unexpected challenges. =
"Making the amino acids made it seem like the rest of the steps would be =
very easy; it's turned out that it's more difficult that I thought it =
would be," Miller said in an interview. "It's a series of little tricks. =
Once you learn the trick it's very easy; the problem is learning the =
trick."=20
Rather than trying to cook up life in one pot from basic chemicals =
interacting, scientists have broken the task into little parts, much as =
explorers might split into teams to survey certain paths without any one =
person navigating the entire terrain.=20
"No one has been able to, you know, sort of connect those line segments =
and just start with organic compounds and make something that's =
evolving," said Gerald Joyce, an expert on "in-vitro evolution" at the =
Scripps Research Institute.=20
Joyce's research focuses on the end of the chain toward life in which =
chemicals transform into a biological substance that can replicate and =
mutate and thus evolve over time.=20
He takes ribonucleic acid (RNA) which hold genetic code key to =
reproduction and "breeds" them with the help of other molecules. He is =
hoping that one day his breeding will spawn something living that =
replicates on its own.=20
"It's just like breeding flowers or something," he said. "We pick the =
best and the brightest, you know, and use those a parenting stock to =
produce the next set of progeny."=20
Ferris' experiments, conducted on the microscopic level in test tubes, =
show that the minerals in clay help chemical compounds form RNA. The =
study suggests that life started not in the sea or even by arriving from =
outer space, as some have suggested, but by splashing onto the surface =
of rocks.=20
Even though Miller, Joyce, Ferris and others have made impressive =
progress in certain sections on the road to life, complete genesis, =
which took not a week but hundreds of millions of years on Earth, =
remains elusive.=20
"God knows how long it will take us to do," said Jack Szostak, a =
professor of genetics at Harvard Medical School. "We've been working on =
it for 10 years; it might take another few years or it might take =
another 20 or 30 years."=20
Yet the results so far are encouraging enough for some scientists to =
conclude the universe is a vast spawning ground of life, with as many as =
trillions of planets capable of sustaining life.=20
"The Earth is not a freak speck around a freak star in a freak galaxy, =
lost in an immense 'unfeeling' whirlpool of stars and galaxies," Nobel =
laureate Christian de Duve wrote in "Vital Dust," a book about the =
origin of life. "The universe was -- and presumably still is -- pregnant =
with life."=20
Copyright 1996 Reuters Limited. All rights reserved.