A New Chemical 'Tree of The Origins of Life' Reveals Our Possible Molecular Evolution (ScienceAlert) [View all]

MICHELLE STARR
3 OCTOBER 2020

One of the greatest mysteries in our Universe is right here on our own doorstep. No, closer - it's in every fibre of our being.

At least 3.7 billion years ago, a few simple molecules worked together to create something new. Then a few more. And, somehow, these snowballing combinations eventually produced the first very basic living organisms that would evolve and branch out to become all life on Earth.
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With a specially developed software tool, scientists in Poland and South Korea have traced the potential synthesis routes from the simple precursor molecules (prebiotics) present on early Earth to the complex biomolecules that gave rise to the planet's teeming life today.
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"We harnessed the power of computer-assisted organic synthesis to map the network of molecules that are synthesisable from basic prebiotic feedstocks."
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The software is called Allchemy, and the team developed it by encoding known prebiotic chemical reactions in a format that a machine can read. They included information about incompatible groups and conditions, and known reaction mechanisms under prebiotic conditions.
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more: https://www.sciencealert.com/a-new-chemical-tree-of-the-origins-of-life-reveals-our-possible-chemical-evolution
https://science.sciencemag.org/content/369/6511/eaaw1955