Engineering topics

Miller, Stanley L.

Publications and source records attributed to Miller, Stanley L..

28 records · Page 2

NASA NTRS1995

The Origin of Life--Did It Occur at High Temperatures

A high-temperature origin of life has been proposed, largely for the reason that the hyperthermophiles are claimed to be the last common ancestor of modern organisms. Even if they are the oldest extant organisms, which is in dispute, their existence can say nothing about the temperatures of the origin of life, the RNA world, and organisms preceding the hyperthermophiles. There is no geological evidence for the physical setting of the origin of life because there are no unmetamorphosed rocks from that period. Prebiotic chemistry points to a low-temperature origin because most biochemicals decompose rather rapidly at temperatures of 100 C (e.g., half-lives are 73 min for ribose, 21 days for cytosine, and 204 days for adenine). Hyperthermophiles may appear at the base of some phylogenetic trees because they outcompeted the mesophiles when they adapted to lower temperatures, possibly due to enhanced production of heat-shock proteins.

Miller, Stanley L.↗

NASA NTRS1993

Comment on 'Summary and implications of reported amino acid concentrations in the Murchison meteorite' by E. L. Shock and M. D. Schulte

A criticism of the claim by Shock and Schulte (1990) that there is a correlation between the amino acid abundances (relative to glycine) in the Murchison meteorite and their aqueous solubilities is presented. Their suggestion that 'the same factors which control the aqueous solubility of many amino acids also control their relative abundances in the Murchison meteorite is argued to be incorrect. It is proposed that even though the water/meteorite ratio would have been less during meteorite aqueous alteration than that in the 100-C laboratory extraction procedure, amino acids are simply too soluble. The distribution of other meteorite organic components such as PAHs may have been affected by alteration because they are only slightly soluble in water and can be easily separated by geochromatographic processes. In their reply Shock and Schulte contend that the critics argue against a point not made in their paper and that their argument was supported with several unsubstantiated assertions, including an unfounded claim that the temperature dependence of amino acid solubilities are 'not greatly different', a misrepresentation of isopiestic studies on concentration solutions as equilibrium solubility measurements.

Miller, Stanley L.↗

NASA NTRS1992

The Prebiotic Synthesis of Ethylenediamine Monoacetic Acid, The Repeating Unit of Peptide Nucleic Acids

The polymerization of ribonucleic acids or their precursors constitutes an important event in prebiotic chemistry. The various problems using ribonucleotides to make RNA suggest that there may have been a precursor. An attractive possibility are the peptide nucleic acids (PNA). PNAs are nucleotide analogs that make use of a polymer of ethylenediamine monoacetic acid (EDMA or 2-amninoethyl glycine) with the bases attached by an acetic acid. EDMA is an especially attractive alternative to the ribose phosphate or deoxyribose phosphate backbone because it contains no chiral centers and is potentially prebiotic, but there is no reported prebiotic synthesis. We have synthesized both EDMA and ethylenediamine diacetic acid (EDDA) from the prebiotic compounds ethylenediamine, formaldehyde, and hydrogen cyanide. The yields of EDMA range from 11 to 79% along with some sEDDA and uEDDA. These reactions work with concentrations of 10(exp -1)M and as low as 10(exp -4)M, and the reaction is likely to be effective at even lower concentrations. Ethylenediamine is a likely prebiotic compound, but it has not yet been demonstrated, although compounds such as ethanolamine and cysteamine have been proven to be prebiotic. Under neutral pH and heating at l00 C, EDMA is converted to the lactam, monoketopiperazine (MKP). The cyclization occurs and has an approximate ratio of MKP/EDMA = 3 at equilibrium. We have measured the solubilities of EDMA center dot H20 as 6.4 m, EDMA center dot HCl center dot H20 as 13.7 m, and EDMA center dot 2HCl center dot H20 as 3.4 m. These syntheses together with the high solubility of EDMA suggest that EDMA would concentrate in drying lagoons and might efficiently form polymers. Given the instability of ribose and the poor polymerizability of nucleotides, the prebiotic presence of EDMA and the possibility of its polymerization raises the possibility that PNAs are the progenitors of present day nucleic acids. A pre-RNA world may have existed in which PNAs or polymers with related peptide backbones were the dominant information macromolecules.

Nelson, Kevin E.↗

NASA NTRS1990

The origin and early evolution of life on earth

Results of the studies that have provided insights into the cosmic and primitive earth environments are reviewed with emphasis on those environments in which life is thought to have originated. The evidence bearing on the antiquity of life on the earth and the prebiotic significance of organic compounds found in interstellar clouds and in primitive solar-system bodies such as comets, dark asteroids, and carbonaceous chondrites are assessed. The environmental models of the Hadean and early Archean earth are discussed, as well as the prebiotic formation of organic monomers and polymers essential to life. The processes that may have led to the appearance in the Archean of the first cells are considered, and possible effects of these processes on the early steps of biological evolution are analyzed. The significance of these results to the study of the distribution of life in the universe is evaluated.

Oro, J.↗

NASA NTRS1988

Submarine hot springs and the origin of life

The popular hypothesis that life originally arose in hydrothermal vents at oceanic ridge crests is examined. It is shown that the high temperatures in the vents would not allow synthesis of organic compounds, but would decompose them, unless the exposure time at vent temperature was short. Even if the essential organic molecules were available in the hot hydrothermal waters, the subsequent steps of polymerization and the conversion of these polymers into the first organisms would not occur as the vent waters were quenched to the colder temperatures of the primitive oceans.

Miller, Stanley L.↗

NASA NTRS1987

Electric discharge synthesis of HCN in simulated Jovian atmospheres

Corona discharge is presently considered as a possible source of the HCN detected in the Jovian atmosphere at 2.2 x 10 to the -7th moles/sq cm column density, for the cases of gas mixtures containing H2, CH4, and NH3, with H2/CH4 ratios from 4.4 to 1585. A 3:1 ratio of corona discharge to lightning energy similar to that of the earth is applied to Jupiter. Depending on the lightning energy available on Jupiter and the eddy diffusion coefficients in the synthesis region, HCN column densities generated by corona discharge could account for about 10 percent of the HCN observed.

Stribling, Roscoe↗

NASA NTRS1987

The case for an ancestral genetic system involving simple analogues of the nucleotides

The idea that the first living systems on earth were based on self-replicating RNA molecules has recently become popular as a result of the discovery of ribozymes. However, there are several major problems associated with the prebiotic synthesis of ribonucleotides. In addition, there is the newly recognized problem of enantiomeric cross-inhibition, whereby template-directed polymerization involving one enantiomer of RNA is inhibited strongly by the presence of the other enantiomer. Here, it is proposed that RNA was preceded in the evolution of life by a polymer constructed from flexible, acyclic, probably prochiral nucleotide analogues that were synthesized readily on the primitive earth. Several potentially prebiotic nucleotide analogues are considered in this context, and some of the consequences of this proposal are discussed.

Joyce, Gerald F.↗

NASA NTRS1987

Energy yields for hydrogen cyanide and formaldehyde syntheses - The HCN and amino acid concentrations in the primitive ocean

Simulated prebiotic atmospheres containing either CH4, CO, or CO2, in addition to N2, H2O, and variable amounts of H2, were subjected to the spark from a high-frequency Tesla coil, and the energy yields for the syntheses of HCN and H2CO were estimated from periodic (every two days) measurements of the compound concentrations. The mixtures with CH4 were found to yield the highest amounts of HCN, whereas the CO mixtures produced the highest yields of H2CO. These results model atmospheric corona discharges. From the yearly energy yields calculated and the corona discharge available on the earth, the yearly production rate of HCN was estimated; using data on the HCN production rates and the experimental rates of decomposition of amino acids through the submarine vents, the steady state amino acid production rate in the primitive ocean was calculated to be about 10 nmoles/sq cm per year.

Stribling, Roscoe↗

NASA NTRS1987

Prebiotic synthesis of imidazole-4-acetaldehyde and histidine

The prebiotic synthesis of imidazole-4-acetaldehyde and imidazole-4-glycol from erythrose and formamidine has been demonstrated as well as the prebiotic synthesis of imidazole-4-ethanol and imidazole-4-glycol from erythrose, formaldehyde, and ammonia. The maximum yields of imidazole-4-acetaldehyde, imidazole-4-ethanol, and imidazole-4-glycol obtained in these reactions are 1.6, 5.4, and 6.8 percent respectively, based on the erythrose. Imidazole-4-acetaldehyde would have been converted to histidine on the primitive earth by a Strecker synthesis, and several prebiotic reactions would convert imidazole-4-glycol and imidazole-4-ethanol to imidazole-4-acetaldehyde.

Shen, Chun↗

NASA NTRS1986

Current status of the prebiotic synthesis of small molecules

Experiments designed to simulate conditions on the primitive earth and to demonstrate how the organic compounds that made up the first living organisms were synthesized are described. Simulated atmospheres with CH4, N2, NH3, and H2O were found to be most effective for synthesis of small prebiotic molecules, although atmospheres with H2, CO, N2, and H2O, and with H2, CO2, N2, and H2O also give good yields of organic compounds provided the H2/CO and H2/CO2 ratios are above 1 and 2, respectively. The spark discharge (which is a good source of HCN) and UV light are also important. Reasonable prebiotic syntheses were worked out for the amino acids that occur in proteins (with the exception of lysine, arginine, and histidine), and for purines, pyrimidines, sugars, and nicotinic acid. Many of the molecules that have been produced in these simulated primitive-earth experiments are found in carbonaceous chondrites.

Miller, Stanley L.↗