The First Cell : The Mystery Surrounding the Beginning of Life

"This book introduces a fresh perspective on the conditions for the genesis of the first cell. An important possible environment of the prehistoric Earth has long been overlooked as a host to the perfect biochemical conditions for this process. The first complexes of continental crust on the early Earth must have already contained systems of interconnected cracks and cavities, which were filled with volatiles like water, carbon dioxide and nitrogen. This book offers insights into how these conditions may have provided the ideal physical and chemical setting for the formation of protocells and early stages of life. The authors support their hypothesis with a number of astonishing findings from laboratory experiments focusing on a variety of organic compounds, and on the formation of key cellular ingredients and of primitive cell-like structures. Moreover, they discuss the principles of prebiotic evolution regarding the aspects of order and complexity. Guiding readers through various stages of hypotheses and re-created evolutionary processes, the book is enriched with personal remarks and experiences throughout, reflecting the authors' personal quest to solve the mystery surrounding the first cell."-- Provided by publisher Preface to the English Edition 7 Preface 8 Acknowledgments 10 Contents 11 1: Introduction 14 1.1 The Origins of Life: What Makes This Question So Important to Us? 14 1.2 What Exactly Is Life? 16 1.3 Who Was LUCA? 18 1.4 The Beginnings 19 1.4.1 But How Did It All Begin? 21 References 25 2: Global Requirements 27 2.1 Initial Requirement: The Planets and a Sun with System 27 2.2 Second Requirement: The Earth—A Collection of Materials for a Beginning 29 2.3 Third Requirement: Water 33 2.4 Fourth Requirement: A Permanent Atmosphere 34 2.4.1 What Does Limestone Have to Do with the Atmosphere? 35 2.4.2 Please Note 36 2.5 What Happened Next? 37 References 41 3: The Narrower General Conditions: Chemistry, Physics, and Physical Chemistry—We Can’t Live Without Them 43 3.1 The Chemical Resources of Life 43 Carbon 44 Hydrogen 44 Nitrogen 45 Oxygen 46 Phosphorus/Phosphate 46 Sulfur 47 3.2 Chemistry Has Its Own Laws 49 3.3 Catalysts Accelerate the Reaction Enormously 49 3.4 Dilution: No Reaction Without Concentration 51 3.5 Entropy and Still No End 52 3.6 Chirality: What Is It Exactly? 54 References 57 4: Really Helpful: A Brief Outline of What Happens in Biological Cells Today 59 4.1 The Problem of Containment 59 4.2 The Information Store: Without Just Zeros and Ones 64 4.3 How Is the Information Stored Converted in the Cell? 68 References 75 5: The Previous Models: Sighting the Great Nebula 76 5.1 From Ancient Times to Modern Science 76 5.2 Modern Beginnings 77 5.3 The Experiment by Harold C. Urey and Stanley L. Miller 78 5.4 The Dam Was Broken 80 5.5 Black Smoker: A Parallel World 81 5.6 A New Discovery: The White Smoker 83 5.7 The Search Continues: Warm Ponds 85 5.8 Panspermia: Space Seeds 89 5.9 Additional Considerations 91 References 92 6: The RNA World: A Beginning with a Very Special Molecule? 94 6.1 RNA, A Molecule with Skills 94 6.2 Problems in the RNA World 97 References 98 7: The New Model: Hydrothermal Systems in the Early Continental Crust 99 7.1 The Continental Crust: Fragile and Disturbed 99 7.2 Supercritical Gases: Steam Under Pressure? 107 7.2.1 The Decisive Step 111 7.3 It Does Exist: Evidence from Nature 113 7.4 Experiments on the Crust Model Are Possible 117 7.4.1 About the Device 117 7.4.2 So, What Happened Next? 120 References 123 8: A Hypothetical Approach: Hydrothermal Systems in the Early Continental Crust 124 8.1 The Search for the Path 124 8.2 Phase I: Formation and Enrichment 128 8.3 Phase II: The Selection Process 132 8.4 Phase V (Brought Forward): A Possible Start to Life 136 8.4.1 How Can We Imagine the Situation in Spatial Terms? 148 8.5 Phase VI: LUCA Becomes Visible 149 8.6 Phase III: Loans to the RNA World 154 8.7 Phase IV: Closing the Gap 159 8.8 Can It Really Have Been Like That? 165 References 168 9: Life = Order + Complexity 170 9.1 Searching for Life 170 9.2 Life and Order 172 9.3 Life and Complexity 174 9.4 The Limits of Life 175 9.5 Consequences for the Origin of Life 177 References 179 10: After LUCA: What Happened Next? 181 10.1 The Triumphal March Begins 181 10.2 The Contact Between Differently Developed Cells 184 10.3 And the Viruses? 185 References 186 Front Matter ....Pages i-xvii Introduction (Ulrich C. Schreiber, Christian Mayer)....Pages 1-13 Global Requirements (Ulrich C. Schreiber, Christian Mayer)....Pages 15-30 The Narrower General Conditions: Chemistry, Physics, and Physical Chemistry—We Can’t Live Without Them (Ulrich C. Schreiber, Christian Mayer)....Pages 31-46 Really Helpful: A Brief Outline of What Happens in Biological Cells Today (Ulrich C. Schreiber, Christian Mayer)....Pages 47-63 The Previous Models: Sighting the Great Nebula (Ulrich C. Schreiber, Christian Mayer)....Pages 65-82 The RNA World: A Beginning with a Very Special Molecule? (Ulrich C. Schreiber, Christian Mayer)....Pages 83-87 The New Model: Hydrothermal Systems in the Early Continental Crust (Ulrich C. Schreiber, Christian Mayer)....Pages 89-113 A Hypothetical Approach: Hydrothermal Systems in the Early Continental Crust (Ulrich C. Schreiber, Christian Mayer)....Pages 115-160 Life = Order + Complexity (Ulrich C. Schreiber, Christian Mayer)....Pages 161-171 After LUCA: What Happened Next? (Ulrich C. Schreiber, Christian Mayer)....Pages 173-178