Chemical evolution from simple inorganic compounds to chiral peptides.
Numerous experiments performed in the past 50 years have strongly changed ideas of how life could have emerged on the primitive Earth. This review deals with the synthesis of biomolecule precursors under the conditions prevailing on the primordial Earth, and describes possible scenarios for their combination and elongation to form peptides and proteins. Furthermore it proposes different answers to one of the big secrets of nature: why DNA-coded biohomochiral life emerged using amino acids in their l-form?
Institute of Analytical Chemistry and Radiochemistry, University of Innsbruck, Innrain 80-82, 6020 Innsbruck, Austria. Thomas.Jakschitz@uibk.ac.at
Thomas A E
TA
Jakschitz
Bernd M
BM
Rode
D000596:Amino Acids / Q000737:chemistry*; D018534:Earth, Planet; D019418:Evolution, Chemical; D008958:Models, Molecular; D000069497:Origin of Life; D010455:Peptides / Q000737:chemistry*
D000596:Amino Acids; D010455:Peptides