Origin of life: hypothesized roles of high-energy electrical discharges, infrared radiation, thermosynthesis and pre-photosynthesis.
The hypothesis is proposed that during the organization of pre-biotic bacterial cell(s), high-energy electrical discharges, infrared radiation (IR), thermosynthesis and possibly pre-photosynthesis were central to the origin of life. High-energy electrical discharges generated some simple organic molecules available for the origin of life. Infrared radiation, both incoming to the Earth and generated on the cooling Earth with day/night and warming/cooling cycles, was a component of heat engine thermosynthesis before enzymes and the genetic code were present. Eventually, a primitive forerunner of photosynthesis and the capability to capture visible light emerged. In addition, the dual particle-wave nature of light is discussed from the perspective that life requires light acting both as a wave and particle.
Laboratory of Microbiology, School of Environmental Sciences, University of Guelph, 50 Stone Road, E., Guelph, ON N1G 2W1, Canada. jtrevors@uoguelph.ca
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Trevors
D060733:Electromagnetic Radiation; D007259:Infrared Rays; D000069497:Origin of Life; D010788:Photosynthesis; D013816:Thermodynamics