Großmann Yildiz, Schreiber Ulrich, Mayer Christian, Schmitz Oliver J
Institute of Applied Analytical Chemistry (AAC), University of Duisburg-Essen, 45141 Essen, Germany.
Teaching and Research Centre for Separation (TRC), University of Duisburg-Essen, 45141 Essen, Germany.
Life (Basel). 2022 Jun 21;12(7):925. doi: 10.3390/life12070925.
The origin of life is a mystery that has not yet been solved in the natural sciences. Some promising interpretative approaches are related to hydrothermal activities. Hydrothermal environments contain all necessary elements for the development of precursor molecules. There are surfaces with possible catalytic activity, and wide ranges of pressure and temperature conditions. The chemical composition of hydrothermal fluids together with periodically fluctuating physical conditions should open up multiple pathways towards prebiotic molecules. In 2017, we detected potentially prebiotic organic substances, including a homologous series of aldehydes in Archean quartz crystals from Western Australia, more than 3 billion years old. In order to approach the question of whether the transformation of inorganic into organic substances is an ongoing process, we investigated a drill core from the geologically young Wehr caldera in Germany at a depth of 1000 m. Here, we show the existence of a similar homologous series of aldehydes (C to C) in the fluid inclusions of the drill core calcites, a finding that supports the thesis that hydrothermal environments could possibly be the material source for the origin of life.
生命起源是自然科学中尚未解决的一个谜团。一些有前景的解释方法与热液活动有关。热液环境包含了前体分子发育所需的所有必要元素。存在具有潜在催化活性的表面，以及广泛的压力和温度条件。热液流体的化学成分以及周期性波动的物理条件应该会为益生元分子开辟多条途径。2017年，我们在西澳大利亚30多亿年前的太古代石英晶体中检测到了潜在的益生元有机物质，包括一系列醛类同系物。为了探究无机物质向有机物质的转化是否是一个持续的过程，我们研究了德国地质年代较新的韦尔火山口1000米深处的一个岩芯。在这里，我们展示了岩芯方解石的流体包裹体中存在类似的醛类同系物（C 到 C），这一发现支持了热液环境可能是生命起源物质来源的论点。
