Chemicals used to dye hair could hold the key to the origins of life on Earth. Photo courtesy of Kim Becker on Flickr.
Researchers looking at the origins of life on Earth have come up with a new explanation for how the earliest molecular material was able to replicate in the primordial soup. They have found that hydrogen peroxide, an ingredient commonly associated with hair bleach, may have been the key to the early replication of RNA - the polymeric molecule that is thought to have existed before cellular life and DNA. The research sheds new light on how the earliest forms of life developed, and helps explain the mystery of why new forms of life don't emerge on modern Earth. "The problem of how life originated is enormously complicated," said lead researcher Dr Rowena Ball, from the ANU Mathematical Sciences Institute. "But we now have one piece of the puzzle that we didn't have before." More than 3.6 billion years ago there were no living cells and no proteins in the primordial soup on Earth. Scientists have long believed that cell-free RNA grew in rock pores around hydrothermal vents. But for RNA to replicate, it needed both a heating and cooling phase, which posed questions over the theory.
TO READ THIS ARTICLE, CREATE YOUR ACCOUNT
And extend your reading, free of charge and with no commitment.
