Origins of life – Page 3
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Research
Microdroplets’ chemical wizardry could have given life a helping hand
Droplet reduction may shed light on puzzles of the prebiotic era and offer a new way to do green chemistry
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Research
Resurrected enzyme aces cellulose catalysis
Protein that survived extreme conditions on early Earth could be a boon for biofuel industry
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Research
Impact of extra-terrestrial glycine delivery could have created nucleobase precursors
Quantum simulations show that comets and other celestial bodies may have not only delivered building blocks for life to Earth, but also synthesised them on impact
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Research
Mineral surfaces promoted variation in prebiotic RNA
Thermodynamic model probes the entropic cost of enriching RNA strands adsorbed on a surface
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Research
Eight-letter genetic code hints at how alien life might evolve
Synthetic DNA shows that four bases might not be the only way for life to go
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Research
Synthetic molecules fold up into abiotic proteins
Compound that self-assembles into giant folded ring could help scientists design bespoke abiotic proteins
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Opinion
Chiral curiosities
The challenges posed by asymmetry go hand in hand with fascinating insights into developmental biology
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Research
DNA sugar could form on icy asteroids and comets
Water–methanol ices bombarded with UV simulate conditions found on comets and asteroids
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Research
Surface chemistry for biological questions
Rasmita Raval discusses her career exploring the complex behaviour of molecule–surface systems and what it has to do with antibiotic resistance and the origin of life
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Research
Evidence emerges from the deep of Earth's first amino acids
Geochemical processes shows how buildings blocks for life on Earth may have been synthesised
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Research
Biomarker evidence that Dickinsonia were first animals
Analysis places unusual ovular organism on multicellular branch of phylogenetic tree
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Research
Bubbly protocells bob up and down
Enzymes inflate or consume oxygen bubbles making clay capsules float and sink reversibly
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Research
Chemical analysis adds to evidence for early microfossils
Well-preserved samples enable examination of intact microstructures rather than powdered material
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Research
Prebiotically plausible version of pH gradient generating catalyst
Scientists create simple metal ion system could have facilitated early metabolic processes, like ATP synthesis
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Research
Parasitic self-replicating molecules consume their creators
Simple chemicals display life-like behaviour
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News
ExoMars rover will carry tiny organic chemistry lab
Probe will drill down beneath the surface of the red planet in search of evidence life once existed there
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Opinion
The scientists who create life
Chemistry has created life for 100 years – but where can it lead us?
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Research
Insights into nucleobase repair on Archean Earth
Self-repair mechanism may be part of nucleic acids’ evolutionary advantage