An international group of scientists has discovered that simple chemical compounds – hydroxy acids – could contribute to the appearance of the first living cells. The article of the researchers was published in the Biomacromolecules magazine, briefly about scientific work is described in a press release on PHYS.ORG.
hydroxy acids that were widespread on early earth are capable of communicating together and form structures resembling modern cells. Scientists have shown that this is due to gradual evaporation of the solution, for example, in puddles or small water bodies on ancient beaches.
The outer shells of cells consist of lipids capable of spontaneously to form closed structures in water, for example, vesicles (intracellular organelles resembling bubbles). One part of the molecules is in contact with water, that is, it is a hydrophilic, and the other, hydrophobic, avoids contact with it. In a new study, scientists have shown that hydroxy acids have similar amphilic properties, forming drop-shaped structures, while these molecules in structure are easier than biological lipids.
If you prepare a solution with a light differential in the properties of the types of hydroxyxotlot (for example, by charge), new types of polyesters will begin to appear, which can spontaneously form stable structures resembling cells. They have important functions for vital activity, such as the ability to separate nucleic acids. Scientists believe that with further an increase in the complexity of the experimental system, there may be even more potentially useful functions. In antiquity, such properties in ordinary molecules were most likely led to a primitive life.