Chemicals released by comet impacts may have helped life develop on Earth
Source: Newsweek
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Comets may have helped to give rise to life on Earth. New research mimicking the conditions of a comet impact on our planet 4 billion years ago has shown that such an event could give rise to multi-chained peptides. That’s intriguing since peptides make up proteins, one of the fundamental building blocks of life as we know it.
The study, presented August 18 at the Goldschmidt Conference in Prague, is the first to provide evidence that an impact could make tri-peptides, consisting of three linearly linked molecules, says study author Haruna Sugahara, a biogeochemist at the Japan Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology.
The simulation was carried out with a mixture of amino acids, which have been found on comets, as well super-cold ice and rock (of which they are made). The force of the impact was re-created with a propellant gun. Researchers analyzed the chemical products afterward and found that the force of the “impact” caused a significant proportion of the amino acids to form the beginning of chains that make up proteins, Sugahara says.
It’s possible that life then came about from substances brought to the Earth by comets, asteroids and meteorites, and then combined with substances created by hydrothermal vents, she says. Lightning storms may have also played a role in creating necessary organic compounds, she adds; when electrical currents like lightning course through a mixture of water, methane, ammonia and hydrogen, which were all thought to be present on early Earth, amino acids can be created.
Read more: http://www.rawstory.com/2015/08/chemicals-released-by-comet-impacts-may-have-helped-life-develop-on-earth-study/
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