Deamer David
Department of Biomolecular Engineering, University of California, Santa Cruz CA 95060, USA.
Beilstein J Org Chem. 2017 Mar 28;13:620-624. doi: 10.3762/bjoc.13.60. eCollection 2017.
In origins of life research, it is important to understand the difference between conjecture and hypothesis. This commentary explores the difference and recommends alternative hypotheses as a way to advance our understanding of how life can begin on the Earth and other habitable planets. As an example of how this approach can be used, two conditions have been proposed for sites conducive to the origin of life: hydrothermal vents in salty seawater, and fresh water hydrothermal fields associated with volcanic landmasses. These are considered as alternative hypotheses and the accumulating weight of evidence for each site is described and analyzed.
在生命起源研究中,理解推测与假设之间的差异很重要。本评论探讨了这种差异,并推荐了其他假设,以此作为增进我们对生命如何在地球及其他宜居行星上起源的理解的一种方式。作为这种方法如何应用的一个例子,已经提出了有利于生命起源的两个条件:咸海水中的热液喷口,以及与火山地块相关的淡水热液区。这些被视为替代假设,并对每个地点不断积累的证据权重进行了描述和分析。