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Science 7 July 1978:
Vol. 201. no. 4350, pp. 67 - 69
DOI: 10.1126/science.663639
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Articles

Science, Vol 201, Issue 4350, 67-69
Copyright © 1978 by American Association for the Advancement of Science

articles

Peptide formation in the prebiotic era: thermal condensation of glycine in fluctuating clay environments

N Lahav, D White, and S Chang

As geologically relevant models of prebiotic environments, systems consisting of clay, water, and amino acids were subjected to cyclic variations in temperature and water content. Fluctuations of both variables produced longer oligopeptides in higher yields than were produced by temperature fluctuations alone. The results suggest that fluctuating environments provided a favorable geological setting in which the rate and extent of chemical evolution would have been determined by the number and frequency of cycles.


THIS ARTICLE HAS BEEN CITED BY OTHER ARTICLES:
Mineral evolution.
R. M. Hazen, D. Papineau, W. Bleeker, R. T. Downs, J. M. Ferry, T. J. McCoy, D. A. Sverjensky, and H. Yang (2008)
American Mineralogist 93, 1693-1720
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Presidential Address to the Mineralogical Society of America, Salt Lake City, October 18, 2005: Mineral surfaces and the prebiotic selection and organization of biomolecules.
R. M. Hazen (2006)
American Mineralogist 91, 1715-1729
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »


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