Paper sheds light on how amino acids come into being

Sep 16, 2013 20:21 GMT  ·  By

A paper published in yesterday's issue of the journal Nature Geoscience details the discovery of so-called cosmic factories that scientists claim are responsible for the formation of the building blocks of life.

In their study, researchers at the Imperial College London, the University of Kent and the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory explain that these buildings blocks of life are amino acids.

According to their investigations, they can come into being either when an icy comet crashes into a planet, or when a rocky meteorite collides with a planet whose surface is at least partly covered in ice.

Specifically, the researchers explain that, whenever such impacts occur, the resulting shock wave leads to the formation of the molecules that stand at the basis of amino acids.

The extreme heat that accompanies this shock wave compels these molecules to come together and create the building blocks of life.

“This process demonstrates a very simple mechanism whereby we can go from a mix of simple molecules, such as water and carbon-dioxide ice, to a more complicated molecule, such as an amino acid. This is the first step towards life,” says Dr. Mark Price of the University of Kent, as cited by EurekAlert.

Given the fact that, between 4.5 to 3.8 billion years ago, lots of meteorites and comets hit our planet, it is likely that the very same process is responsible for the emergence of life on Earth.

The fact that amino acids can so easily form means that life has the potential to come into being anywhere in the Solar System. The only problem is that, once it emerges, it needs certain environmental conditions in order to further develop.

As Dr. Zita Martins at the Imperial College London puts it, “Our work shows that the basic building blocks of life can be assembled anywhere in the Solar System and perhaps beyond. However, the catch is that these building blocks need the right conditions in order for life to flourish.”

Furthermore, “Excitingly, our study widens the scope for where these important ingredients may be formed in the Solar System and adds another piece to the puzzle of how life on our planet took root.”

The researchers theorize that, all things considered, one of Saturn's and one of Jupiter's moons, i.e. Enceladus and Europa, respectively, have the perfect environment to allow for the formation of amino acids. Therefore, it might not be such a bad idea if future space missions were to search for signs of life on them.