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Texas Tech paleontologist suggests life originated in craters full of hot water

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File:Irish stew 2007 (cropped).jpgExcerpt:

Most likely, pores and crevices on the crater basins acted as scaffolds for concentrations of simple RNA and protein molecules, he said. Unlike a popular theory that believes RNA came first and proteins followed, Chatterjee believes RNA and proteins emerged simultaneously and were encapsulated and protected from the environment.

“The dual origin of the ‘RNA/protein’ world is more plausible in the vent environments than the popular ‘RNA world,’” he said. “RNA molecules are very unstable. In vent environments, they would decompose quickly. Some catalysts, such as simple proteins, were necessary for primitive RNA to replicate and metabolize. On the other hand, amino acids, from which proteins are made, are easier to make than RNA components.”

The final stage – the biological stage – represents the origin of replicating cells as they began to store, process and transmit genetic information to their daughter cells, Chatterjee said. Infinite combinations took place, and countless numbers must have failed to function before the secret of replication was broken and the proper selection occurred.

“These self-sustaining first cells were capable of Darwinian evolution,” he said. “The emergence of the first cells on the early Earth was the culmination of a long history of prior chemical, geological and cosmic processes.”

The best organized stew in the history of the planet.

Comments
Every origin of life ignores the most crucial aspect of evolution - how the chemicals formed by whatever means arranged itself in the right order, at right place and in right Chirality to form life?selvaRajan
October 30, 2013
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These self-sustaining first cells were capable of Darwinian evolution
So much for the "self-replicating molecule" theory of biological evolution. As if it could have ever been taken seriously.
The emergence of the first cells on the early Earth was the culmination of a long history of prior chemical, geological and cosmic processes.
"It just happened, that's all" is not a process. Is it just me, or is repeatability inherent in the very idea of a process?Mung
October 30, 2013
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Just think, when a worm spins his cocoon, at the end all of the worm dissolves. So, there you have it: every part, every chemical, every molecules needed to construct a "worm" is present, sitting there next to one another. And what happens? Out comes a butterfly! This reality renders every 'origin of life' scenario senseless.PaV
October 30, 2013
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