title: Possible origin of life between mica sheets: does life imitate mica?
abstract: The mica hypothesis for the origin of life proposes that life originated between the sheets of muscovite mica. This paper elaborates on two ways that life resembles what might have originated between mica sheets. First, enzymes: The configurations and dynamics of enzymes, with their substrates, cofactors, and sometimes transition metal ions, often resemble mica sheets, with their open-and-shut motions, acting on small molecules between them, sometimes assisted by transition metal ions. Second, organisms: Mica world had the potential to be a community or ecosystem of prebiotic organisms in a way unlike other models for the origin of life.
authors.affiliation: Department of Physics, University of California, Santa Barbara, CA 93106, USA. hhansma@physics.ucsb.edu
authors.forename: Helen Greenwood
authors.initials: HG
authors.lastname: Hansma
mesh_terms: D000538:Aluminum Silicates / Q000737:chemistry*; D004798:Enzymes / Q000737:chemistry; D007477:Ions / Q000737:chemistry; D008051:Lipid Bilayers / Q000737:chemistry; D008055:Lipids / Q000737:chemistry; D008903:Minerals / Q000737:chemistry; D056004:Molecular Dynamics Simulation; D000069497:Origin of Life; D010455:Peptides / Q000737:chemistry
chemical_list: D000538:Aluminum Silicates; D004798:Enzymes; D007477:Ions; D008051:Lipid Bilayers; D008055:Lipids; D008903:Minerals; D010455:Peptides; C011934:mica