Reflectorites
The following are some articles that appeared on the front page of two
Australian newspapers, following the article in SCIENCE that Huber and
Wachtershauser had formed peptides from a simulated volcanic-like
environment.
Here is a summary of the Science article at:
http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/abstract/281/5377/670:
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Peptides by Activation of Amino Acids with CO on (Ni,Fe)S Surfaces:
Implications for the Origin of Life Claudia Huber, Gunter Wachtershauser=
*
In experiments modeling volcanic or hydrothermal settings amino acids
were converted into their peptides by use of coprecipitated (Ni,Fe)S and=
CO in conjunction with H2S (or CH3SH) as a catalyst and condensation
agent at 100=F8C and pH 7 to 10 under anaerobic, aqueous conditions. The=
se
results demonstrate that amino acids can be activated under geochemicall=
y
relevant conditions. They support a thermophilic origin of life and an e=
arly
appearance of peptides in the evolution of a primordial metabolism. C.
Huber, Department for Organic Chemistry and Biochemistry, Technische
Universitat Munchen, Lichtenbergstra=E1e 4, D-85747 Garching, Germany.
G. Wachtershauser, Tal 29, D-80331 Munchen, Germany.
-------------------------------------------------------------------
The story was part of an article majoring on possible left-handed amino =
acids being generated in outer space, at on CNN about 2 weeks ago at:
http://www.cnn.com/TECH/space/9807/30/origins.reut/
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Studies point to space as origin of life's seeds July 30, 1998 Web poste=
d at:
11:12 p.m. EDT (0312 GMT) WASHINGTON (Reuters) -- Three studies
published Thursday cast more light on how life originated on Earth,
painting a picture in which space dust provided the seeds, and a warm,
volcanic environment supplied the incubator.
Jeremy Bailey of the Anglo-Australian Observatory in New South Wales,
Australia, and colleagues said they had found more evidence that amino
acids -- some of the basic building blocks of life -- came from space. I=
t
boils down to chirality -- the property of a molecule to exist in mirror=
-
image versions known as left-handed and right-handed forms. The amino
acids found in nearly all living organisms only exist in a left-handed f=
orm.
Scientists have wondered how this could happen. What role have amino
acids played? In 1969, a meteorite known as the Murchison meteorite fell=
to Earth, and recent analysis found it contains organic material full of=
left-
handed amino acids. Some people said this provides evidence that amino
acids from space may have seeded life on Earth. Bailey's team knew that=
when a substance containing equal amounts of right- and left-handed
molecules is exposed to light that has been circularly polarized, most o=
f the
molecules will become either left-handed or right-handed. They looked
into space and found lots of circularly polarized infrared light in the =
constellation of Orion -- specifically in a star-forming region known as=
OMC-1. Star-forming regions contain many organic molecules. Writing in=
the journal Science, Bailey's team suggests that ultraviolet light could=
have
had the same effect on particles in space, producing tons of left-handed=
amino acids, which could then be carried to Earth on comets, asteroids o=
r
meteorites. Assuming this happened, how did the amino acids get
transformed into living organisms?
'One of the great riddles' Claudia Huber and Gunter Wachtershauser of
Technische Universitat in Munich found a way to convert amino acids into=
peptides under conditions like those found in volcanoes. Peptides are t=
he
next step in building life, being intermediate between an amino acid and=
a
protein. "The activation of amino acids and the formation of peptides
under primordial conditions is one of the great riddles of the origin of=
life,"
they wrote in the second of the reports in Science. They heated amino
acids to the boiling point along with gases like those found in volcanic=
conditions such as hydrogen sulfide or methanethiol, along with iron
sulfide, nickel sulfide and carbon monoxide. This would have mimicked
the conditions deep in the ocean near super-hot volcanic vents, they sai=
d.
Peptides formed.
Evolving from an 'RNA world' In a third study, Itaru Nitta and colleague=
s
at the University of Tokyo showed evidence that today's protein-based
world may have evolved from a simpler "RNA world" in which there were
no proteins. "The idea is you start with an RNA world, and you somehow =
get to a world that has amino acids and proteins," said Paul Schimmel, a=
molecular biologist at Scripps Research Institute in La Jolla, Californi=
a.
"You somehow get a genetic code." RNA is used by the cell to read the
genetic code from DNA and translate it into protein. But many scientists=
think that RNA, made from basic molecules known as nucleotides, might
have existed long before proteins. Nitta's team showed that parts of RN=
A
could, on their own, form a peptide bond, a first step to building life.=
"It
really is the most obvious and simplest way to start (but) there's no di=
rect
proof that this is the case, because we can't turn the clock back," said=
Schimmel, who wrote a commentary on the findings.
-------------------------------------------------------------------
The articles seem contradictory, unless:
1) L-amino acids were generated in outer space, travelled millions of
kilometres to Earth, and then fell into a volcano or hydrothermal vent (=
all
the while preserving their left-handedness), where
2) they were synthesised into peptides which joined up to forms a self-
replicating protein, which
3) somehow managed to team up with separately originated piece(s) of
RNA, which
4) in turn developed genetic code(s) which
5) started to synthesise those self-same proteins!
Now *that* would be a miracle! Who said materialist-naturalists were
unbelievers?
Here is the first newspaper article which was the front-page headline in=
The
West Australian:
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Science creates dawn of life
Experiments on deep-sea material cast doubt on Darwin theory
By Carmelo Amalfi
SCIENTISTS have recreated the beginning of life in a test tube. German
chemists have produced living cells from a combination of amino acids -t=
he
protein-based building blocks of life - and gases and minerals found aro=
und
deep-sea volcanic vents. The latest experiment supported an increasingly=
popular theory that the boiling, sulphurous water around submarine
volcanoes contained all the basic ingredients needed to create life. It =
also
threw into doubt British biologist Charles Darwin's theory that life eme=
rged
from small, warm ponds on the early Earth. Munich Technical University
chemist Claudia Huber and patent lawyer and chemist Guenter
Waechtershaeuser have published details of their experiment in the Unite=
d
States journal Science. American colleagues have described their work as=
very exciting. Unlike previous researchers who have tried to mimic
conditions conducive to life at the surface since the 1950s, Ms Huber an=
d
Mr Waechtershaeuser used only substances spewed into the deep sea by
volcanic vents called black smokers. The pair created living cells by li=
nking
amino acids into short, proteinlike chains called peptides. They found t=
heir
proof in a mixture of carbon monoxide and hydrogen sulphide (both
volcanic gases) combined with the presence of the minerals iron sulphide=
and nickel sulphide "They react with each other to form the preliminary =
stages of living organisms," they said. "According to our theory, life m=
ust
constantly result where these conditions prevail... in other words,
everywhere where volcanic gases come into contact with liquid water in
the presence of metal sulphides." Evolutionary scientists worldwide assu=
me
that the first life on Earth began about four billion years ago when the=
planet was much hotter, strewn with volcanoes and under frequent
bombardment from meteorites and asteroids. Submarine life forms may not =
have been the only organisms on Earth but they may have been the only
ones capable of avoiding the threat of obliteration on the surface. In 1=
952,
US chemists Stanley Miller and Harold Urey used sterilised water and
added methane, hydrogen and ammonia. Then, they applied an electric
charge to mimic the early atmosphere. After a week, they found some
organic compounds and a few amino acids. At first glance, the black
smokers that form the basis of the German scientists' experiments do not=
seem to be environments in which any life could survive. But evidence th=
at
life forms thrived around them dates to 1868-nine years after Darwin wro=
te
on the Origin of Species - when British zoologist Charles Thomson began =
a
series of dredging operations that showed life inhabited the ocean from =
top
to bottom. Recent investigations of black smokers show an abundance of
life forms, such as clams, big tube worms and crabs, can survive in high=
temperatures, intense pressure and darkness. (Amalfi C., "Science create=
s
dawn of life," The West Australian, Tuesday August 11, 1998, p1)
-------------------------------------------------------------------
It is ironic that this article casts doubt on Darwin's `warm little pond=
' theory
(which was really just a footnote to a letter), and will no doubt help c=
ement
in the public mind that `Darwin's theory' is wrong!
Here is the second a front-page (but not headline article) in The Austra=
lian
(Australia's only national daily) at
http://www.theaustralian.com.au/national/4288659.htm :
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Spark of life comes together in the labs
GRAEME LEECH
BY mixing volcanic gases in a laboratory two German scientists say they =
have recreated the spark that first began life on Earth about 3.8 billio=
n
years ago. Their experiment comes a week after prominent Adelaide
scientist Paul Davies published a book suggesting that microbial life ma=
y
have originated deep in the heat of the Earth's crust. Instead of beginn=
ing in
a pool of murky water heated by the sun-as theorised by Charles Darwin-
the experiment by Claudia Huber, of Munich Technical University, and
fellow chemist Gunter Wachtershauser, appears to confirm the notion that=
life started in boiling water mixed with volcanic gases. Dr Huber and
Professor Wachtershauser published details of their experiment in the U.=
S
journal Science, which American colleagues described as credible and ver=
y
exciting. Their experiment linked amino acids, the building blocks of
protein, into short protein-like chains known as peptides. They found th=
eir
proof in a mixture of carbon monoxide and hydrogen sulphides combined
with the presence of the minerals iron sulphide and nickel sulphide. "Th=
ey
react with each other to for m the preliminary stages of living organism=
s."
Professor Wachtershauser told the German news agency, Deutsche Presse-
Agentur. "According to my theory, life must constantly result where thes=
e
conditions prevail; in other words, everywhere where volcanic gases come=
into contact with liquid water in the presence of metal sulphides." (Lee=
ch
G., "Spark of life comes together in the labs," The Australian, Tuesday =
August 11, 1998, p1)
-------------------------------------------------------------------
I would be interested if this was big news anywhere else. I could not fi=
nd it
anywhere else on newspaper sites on the Web today, so I wonder at the
coincidence of it appearing as front page news in two separately owned
newspapers in Australia on the same day.
BTW Wachtershauser is a lawyer who has a Ph.D in Chemistry. His
professorship is only honorary, according to this bio at:
http://www.eeng.dcu.ie/~tkpw/people/wachters.html
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Professor Dr. Gunter Wachtershauser
(Last revised: 9th January 1998)
Biographical Background
Professor Dr. Gunter Wachtershauser is an international patent lawer in =
Munich (since 1970), specialising in chemical and biochemical inventions=
.
He has published numerous articles in organic chemistry, genetic
engineering and patent law. Wachtershauser has made at least two major
contributions to evolutionary theory: the origins of perception and
cognition, and the origin of life itself. His breakthrough on the origin=
of life
inspired much discussion in academic journals and also captured the
public's curiosity, with his ideas featuring in such publications as Tim=
e
magazine. For this achievement he received the annual award of the
Bavarian Academy of Sciences in 1993 and an honorary professorship at
the University of Regensberg in 1994.
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Steve
--------------------------------------------------------------------
Stephen E (Steve) Jones ,--_|\ sejones@ibm.net
3 Hawker Avenue / Oz \ senojes@hotmail.com
Warwick 6024 ->*_,--\_/ Phone +61 8 9448 7439
Perth, West Australia v "Test everything." (1Thess 5:21)
--------------------------------------------------------------------
--_=_=_=IMA.BOUNDARY.HTML_4820800=_=_=_
Content-Type: text/html; charset="us-ascii"
Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable
Reflectorites
The following are some articles that appeared on the front page of two <=BR>Australian newspapers, following the article in SCIENCE that Huber and <=BR>Wachtershauser had formed peptides from a simulated volcanic-like
environment.
Here is a summary of the Science article at:
http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/abstract/2=81/5377/670:
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Peptides by Activation of Amino Acids with CO on (Ni,Fe)S Surfaces:
=Implications for the Origin of Life Claudia Huber, Gunter Wachtershauser=*
In experiments modeling volcanic or hydrothermal settings amino acids
CO in conjunction with H2S (or CH3SH) as a catalyst and condensation
results demonstrate that amino acids can be activated under geochemicall=y
relevant conditions. They support a thermophilic origin of life and an e=arly
appearance of peptides in the evolution of a primordial metabolism. C. <=BR>Huber, Department for Organic Chemistry and Biochemistry, Technische
-------------------------------------------------------------------
The story was part of an article majoring on possible left-handed amino =
acids being generated in outer space, at on CNN about 2 weeks ago at:
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Studies point to space as origin of life's seeds July 30, 1998 Web poste=d at:
11:12 p.m. EDT (0312 GMT) WASHINGTON (Reuters) -- Three studies
published Thursday cast more light on how life originated on Earth,
=painting a picture in which space dust provided the seeds, and a warm, <=BR>volcanic environment supplied the incubator.
Jeremy Bailey of the Anglo-Australian Observatory in New South Wales,
boils down to chirality -- the property of a molecule to exist in mirror=-
image versions known as left-handed and right-handed forms. The amino
Scientists have wondered how this could happen. What role have amino
to Earth, and recent analysis found it contains organic material full of= left-
handed amino acids. Some people said this provides evidence that amino <=BR>acids from space may have seeded life on Earth. Bailey's team knew that=
when a substance containing equal amounts of right- and left-handed
=molecules is exposed to light that has been circularly polarized, most o=f the
molecules will become either left-handed or right-handed. They looked <=BR>into space and found lots of circularly polarized infrared light in the =
constellation of Orion -- specifically in a star-forming region known as=
OMC-1. Star-forming regions contain many organic molecules. Writing in=
the journal Science, Bailey's team suggests that ultraviolet light could= have
had the same effect on particles in space, producing tons of left-handed=
amino acids, which could then be carried to Earth on comets, asteroids o=r
meteorites. Assuming this happened, how did the amino acids get
transformed into living organisms?
'One of the great riddles' Claudia Huber and Gunter Wachtershauser of
peptides under conditions like those found in volcanoes. Peptides are t=he
next step in building life, being intermediate between an amino acid and= a
protein. "The activation of amino acids and the formation of peptides <=BR>under primordial conditions is one of the great riddles of the origin of= life,"
they wrote in the second of the reports in Science. They heated amino <=BR>acids to the boiling point along with gases like those found in volcanic=
conditions such as hydrogen sulfide or methanethiol, along with iron
Peptides formed.
Evolving from an 'RNA world' In a third study, Itaru Nitta and colleague=s
at the University of Tokyo showed evidence that today's protein-based
get to a world that has amino acids and proteins," said Paul Schimmel, a=
molecular biologist at Scripps Research Institute in La Jolla, Californi=a.
"You somehow get a genetic code." RNA is used by the cell to read the <=BR>genetic code from DNA and translate it into protein. But many scientists=
think that RNA, made from basic molecules known as nucleotides, might
could, on their own, form a peptide bond, a first step to building life.= "It
really is the most obvious and simplest way to start (but) there's no di=rect
proof that this is the case, because we can't turn the clock back," said=
Schimmel, who wrote a commentary on the findings.
-------------------------------------------------------------------
The articles seem contradictory, unless:
1) L-amino acids were generated in outer space, travelled millions of
the while preserving their left-handedness), where
2) they were synthesised into peptides which joined up to forms a self-<=BR>replicating protein, which
3) somehow managed to team up with separately originated piece(s) of
4) in turn developed genetic code(s) which
5) started to synthesise those self-same proteins!
Now *that* would be a miracle! Who said materialist-naturalists were
Here is the first newspaper article which was the front-page headline in= The
West Australian:
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Science creates dawn of life
Experiments on deep-sea material cast doubt on Darwin theory
By Carmelo Amalfi
SCIENTISTS have recreated the beginning of life in a test tube. German <=BR>chemists have produced living cells from a combination of amino acids -t=he
protein-based building blocks of life - and gases and minerals found aro=und
deep-sea volcanic vents. The latest experiment supported an increasingly=
popular theory that the boiling, sulphurous water around submarine
volcanoes contained all the basic ingredients needed to create life. It =also
threw into doubt British biologist Charles Darwin's theory that life eme=rged
from small, warm ponds on the early Earth. Munich Technical University <=BR>chemist Claudia Huber and patent lawyer and chemist Guenter
Waechtershaeuser have published details of their experiment in the Unite=d
States journal Science. American colleagues have described their work as=
very exciting. Unlike previous researchers who have tried to mimic
conditions conducive to life at the surface since the 1950s, Ms Huber an=d
Mr Waechtershaeuser used only substances spewed into the deep sea by
amino acids into short, proteinlike chains called peptides. They found t=heir
proof in a mixture of carbon monoxide and hydrogen sulphide (both
volcanic gases) combined with the presence of the minerals iron sulphide=
and nickel sulphide "They react with each other to form the preliminary =
stages of living organisms," they said. "According to our theory, life m=ust
constantly result where these conditions prevail... in other words,
=everywhere where volcanic gases come into contact with liquid water in <=BR>the presence of metal sulphides." Evolutionary scientists worldwide assu=me
that the first life on Earth began about four billion years ago when the=
planet was much hotter, strewn with volcanoes and under frequent
bombardment from meteorites and asteroids. Submarine life forms may not =
have been the only organisms on Earth but they may have been the only
US chemists Stanley Miller and Harold Urey used sterilised water and
=charge to mimic the early atmosphere. After a week, they found some
=organic compounds and a few amino acids. At first glance, the black
=smokers that form the basis of the German scientists' experiments do not=
seem to be environments in which any life could survive. But evidence th=at
life forms thrived around them dates to 1868-nine years after Darwin wro=te
on the Origin of Species - when British zoologist Charles Thomson began =a
series of dredging operations that showed life inhabited the ocean from =top
to bottom. Recent investigations of black smokers show an abundance of <=BR>life forms, such as clams, big tube worms and crabs, can survive in high=
temperatures, intense pressure and darkness. (Amalfi C., "Science create=s
dawn of life," The West Australian, Tuesday August 11, 1998, p1)
-------------------------------------------------------------------
It is ironic that this article casts doubt on Darwin's `warm little pond=' theory
(which was really just a footnote to a letter), and will no doubt help c=ement
in the public mind that `Darwin's theory' is wrong!
Here is the second a front-page (but not headline article) in The Austra=lian
(Australia's only national daily) at
http://www.theaustralian.com.au/national/4288659=.htm :
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Spark of life comes together in the labs
GRAEME LEECH
BY mixing volcanic gases in a laboratory two German scientists say they =
have recreated the spark that first began life on Earth about 3.8 billio=n
years ago. Their experiment comes a week after prominent Adelaide
scientist Paul Davies published a book suggesting that microbial life ma=y
have originated deep in the heat of the Earth's crust. Instead of beginn=ing in
a pool of murky water heated by the sun-as theorised by Charles Darwin-<=BR>the experiment by Claudia Huber, of Munich Technical University, and
life started in boiling water mixed with volcanic gases. Dr Huber and
journal Science, which American colleagues described as credible and ver=y
exciting. Their experiment linked amino acids, the building blocks of
proof in a mixture of carbon monoxide and hydrogen sulphides combined
react with each other to for m the preliminary stages of living organism=s."
Professor Wachtershauser told the German news agency, Deutsche Presse-
conditions prevail; in other words, everywhere where volcanic gases come=
into contact with liquid water in the presence of metal sulphides." (Lee=ch
G., "Spark of life comes together in the labs," The Australian, Tuesday =
August 11, 1998, p1)
-------------------------------------------------------------------
I would be interested if this was big news anywhere else. I could not fi=nd it
anywhere else on newspaper sites on the Web today, so I wonder at the
BTW Wachtershauser is a lawyer who has a Ph.D in Chemistry. His
professorship is only honorary, according to this bio at:
http://www.eeng.dcu.ie/~tkpw/people/wachters.htm=l
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Professor Dr. Gunter Wachtershauser
(Last revised: 9th January 1998)
Biographical Background
Professor Dr. Gunter Wachtershauser is an international patent lawer in =
Munich (since 1970), specialising in chemical and biochemical inventions=.
He has published numerous articles in organic chemistry, genetic
engineering and patent law. Wachtershauser has made at least two major <=BR>contributions to evolutionary theory: the origins of perception and
=cognition, and the origin of life itself. His breakthrough on the origin= of life
inspired much discussion in academic journals and also captured the
=public's curiosity, with his ideas featuring in such publications as Tim=e
magazine. For this achievement he received the annual award of the
Bavarian Academy of Sciences in 1993 and an honorary professorship at
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Steve
--------------------------------------------------------------------
=Stephen E (Steve) Jones ,--_|\ sejo=nes@ibm.net
3 Hawker Avenue =; / Oz \ senojes@hotmail.com
Warwick 6024 &=nbsp;->*_,--\_/ Phone +61 8 9448 7439
Perth, West Australia =; v "Test everything." (1Thess 5:21=)
----------------------------------------------------------------------_=_=_=IMA.BOUNDARY.HTML_4820800=_=_=_--