References & Sources - January 9, 1999

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Life's First Scalding Steps

Harsh undersea vent conditions can foster some of the chemical steps thought necessary for early life.

References:

1998. Ammonia from the Earth's deep-oceans: A key step in the search for life's origins. Carnegie Institution News Release. September.

Brandes, J.A., et al. 1998. Abiotic nitrogen reduction on the early Earth. Nature 395(Sept. 24):365.

Chyba, C. 1998. Buried beginnings. Nature 395(Sept. 24):329.

Huber, C., and G. Wächtershäuser. 1998. Peptides by activation of amino acids with CO on (Ni, Fe)S surfaces: Implications for the origin of life. Science 281(July 31):670.

______. 1997. Activated acetic acid by carbon fixation on (Fe, Ni)S under primordial conditions. Science 276(April 11):245.

Further Readings:

Lipkin, R. 1994. Darwin in vitro. Science News 146(Nov. 26):362.

______. 1994. From proteins to protolife. Science News 146(July 23):58.

Monastersky, R. 1997. Deep dwellers. Science News 151(March 29):192.

Wu, C. 1996. Yeast peptide goes forth and multiplies. Science News 150(Aug. 10):87.

The Pacific Marine Environmental Laboratory's VENTS Program home page is available at http://www.pmel.noaa.gov:80/vents/home.html.

Jack Corliss' ideas on the origins of life can be found at http://www.syslab.ceu.hu/~corliss.

Sources:

Jefferey L. Bada
Scripps Institution of Oceanography
University of California, San Diego
3266 Sverdrup Hall
La Jolla, CA 92093-0212B

Jay A. Brandes
University of Texas
Marine Sciences Institute
750 Channel View Drive
Port Aransas, TX 78373

Christopher Chyba
Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence Institute
2035 Landings Drive
Mountain View, CA 94043

Robert M. Hazen
Geophysical Laboratory
5251 Broad Branch Road, N.W.
Washington, DC 20015-1305

Günter Wächtershäuser
University of Regensburg
Tal
D-80331 München
Germany

From Science News, Vol. 155, No. 2, January 9, 1999, p. 24. Copyright © 1999, Science Service.

Copyright 1999 Science Service