title: The power of crowding for the origins of life.
abstract: Molecular crowding increases the likelihood that life as we know it would emerge. In confined spaces, diffusion distances are shorter, and chemical reactions produce fewer and more regular products. Crowding will occur in the spaces between Muscovite mica sheets, which has many advantages as a site for life's origins.
authors.affiliation: Department of Physics, University of California, Santa Barbara, CA, 93106, USA, helen.hansma@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Helen Greenwood
authors.initials: HG
authors.lastname: Hansma
mesh_terms: D000538:Aluminum Silicates / Q000737:chemistry*; D000596:Amino Acids / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000378:metabolism; D058045:Artificial Cells / Q000378:metabolism*; D001696:Biomechanical Phenomena; D002451:Cell Compartmentation; D002455:Cell Division; D004058:Diffusion; D004735:Energy Transfer; D017136:Ion Transport; D008954:Models, Biological; D000069497:Origin of Life; D011506:Proteins / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000378:metabolism; D013046:Specific Gravity; D013237:Stereoisomerism; D014783:Viscosity
chemical_list: D000538:Aluminum Silicates; D000596:Amino Acids; D011506:Proteins; C517971:muscovite