THE ROLE OF CHIRALITY IN THE ORIGIN OF LIFE

被引:195
作者
SALAM, A [1 ]
机构
[1] UNIV LONDON IMPERIAL COLL SCI & TECHNOL,DEPT THEORET PHYS,LONDON SW7 2AZ,ENGLAND
关键词
PREBIOTIC CHIRALITY; ORIGIN OF LIFE; CONDENSATION;
D O I
10.1007/BF02193624
中图分类号
Q5 [生物化学]; Q7 [分子生物学];
学科分类号
071010 ; 081704 ;
摘要
The role of chirality in the theories that determine the origin of life are reemphasized - in particular the fact that almost all amino acids utilized in living systems are of the L type. Starting from Z0 interactions, I speculate on an explanation of the above fact in terms of quantum mechanical cooperative and condensation phenomena (possibly in terms of an e-n condensate where the e-n system has the same status as Cooper-pairing), which could give rise to second-order phase transitions (including D to L transformations) below a critical temperature T(c). As a general rule, T(c) is a low temperature. From this, it is conceivable that the earth provided too hot a location for the production of L amino acids. I suggest laboratory testing of these ideas by looking for the appropriate phase transitions.
引用
收藏
页码:105 / 113
页数:9
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