The latest technology has provided unique insights into the origins of life on Earth. Scientists have long pondered how life could arise in the harsh conditions of early Earth, with its thin atmosphere bombarded by high-energy radiation from space. One theory suggests that small pools of water containing urea, a necessary ingredient for the formation of nucleosides, were exposed to this radiation. As a result, the urea underwent a transformation, giving rise to the building blocks of life – DNA and RNA.
To delve deeper into this process, scientists needed to understand the ionization of urea and its subsequent reactions. An international team of researchers, including Professor Zhong from the university and his colleagues from the universities of Geneva, Zurich, and Hamburg, utilized an innovative method of x-ray spectroscopy, as outlined in a study published in Nature.
By employing high harmonic generation and liquid flat microistry, the scientists were able to study chemical reactions in liquids with unprecedented temporal accuracy. This method allowed them to investigate changes in urea molecules at a femto-second level, which is a quadrillionth of a second.
“We first demonstrated how urea molecules respond to ionization,” Professor Zhong explained. It was discovered that ionizing radiation damages the urea biomolecules, but during the dissipation of the radiation’s energy, a dynamic process takes place.
Prior studies of molecular reactions were mainly limited to the gas phase. To replicate this process in an aqueous environment, the scientists engineered a device capable of generating ultra-thin liquid jets in a vacuum. Jets of greater thickness would obstruct the measurements and absorb a portion of the x-rays employed.
According to Professor Zhong, this discovery not only provides answers to the origins of life on Earth, but also paves the way for new advancements in the field of attichymia. “Short light pulses are crucial for understanding chemical reactions in real time. Our approach enables scientists to observe a ‘molecular cinema,’ tracking each stage of the process.”