Possible Scenarios for Homochirality on Earth

Possible Scenarios for Homochirality on Earth PDF Author: Michiya Fujiki
Publisher: Buy this from MDPI Books
ISBN: 3039217224
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 318

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Book Description
In 1978, Fred Hoyle proposed that interstellar comets carrying several viruses landed on Earth as part of the panspermia hypotheses. With respect to life, the origin of homochirality on Earth has been the greatest mystery because life cannot exist without molecular asymmetry. Many scientists have proposed several possible hypotheses to answer this long-standing L-D question. Previously, Martin Gardner raised the question about mirror symmetry and broken mirror symmetry in terms of the homochirality question in his monographs (1964 and 1990). Possible scenarios for the L-D issue can be categorized into (i) Earth and exoterrestrial origins, (ii) by-chance and necessity mechanisms, and (iii) mirror-symmetrical and non-mirror-symmetrical forces as physical and chemical origins. These scenarios should involve further great amplification mechanisms, enabling a pure L- or D-world.

Possible Scenarios for Homochirality on Earth

Possible Scenarios for Homochirality on Earth PDF Author: Michiya Fujiki
Publisher: Buy this from MDPI Books
ISBN: 3039217224
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 318

Get Book Here

Book Description
In 1978, Fred Hoyle proposed that interstellar comets carrying several viruses landed on Earth as part of the panspermia hypotheses. With respect to life, the origin of homochirality on Earth has been the greatest mystery because life cannot exist without molecular asymmetry. Many scientists have proposed several possible hypotheses to answer this long-standing L-D question. Previously, Martin Gardner raised the question about mirror symmetry and broken mirror symmetry in terms of the homochirality question in his monographs (1964 and 1990). Possible scenarios for the L-D issue can be categorized into (i) Earth and exoterrestrial origins, (ii) by-chance and necessity mechanisms, and (iii) mirror-symmetrical and non-mirror-symmetrical forces as physical and chemical origins. These scenarios should involve further great amplification mechanisms, enabling a pure L- or D-world.

Comprehensive Chirality

Comprehensive Chirality PDF Author:
Publisher: Newnes
ISBN: 0080951686
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 5635

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Book Description
Although many books exist on the subject of chiral chemistry, they only briefly cover chiral synthesis and analysis as a minor part of a larger work, to date there are none that pull together the background information and latest advances in one comprehensive reference work. Comprehensive Chirality provides a complete overview of the field, and includes chiral research relevant to synthesis, analytic chemistry, catalysis, and pharmaceuticals. The individual chapters in each of the 9 volumes provide an in depth review and collection of references on definition, technology, applications and a guide/links to the related literature. Whether in an Academic or Corporate setting, these chapters will form an invaluable resource for advanced students/researchers new to an area and those who need further background or answers to a particular problem, particularly in the development of drugs. Chirality research today is a central theme in chemistry and biology and is growing in importance across a number of disciplinary boundaries. These studies do not always share a unique identifying factor or subject themselves to clear and concise definitions. This work unites the different areas of research and allows anyone working or researching in chiral chemistry to navigate through the most essential concepts with ease, saving them time and vastly improving their understanding. The field of chirality counts several journals that are directly and indirectly concerned with the field. There is no reference work that encompasses the entire field and unites the different areas of research through deep foundational reviews. Comprehensive Chirality fills this vacuum, and can be considered the definitive work. It will help users apply context to the diverse journal literature offering and aid them in identifying areas for further research and/or for solving problems. Chief Editors, Hisashi Yamamoto (University of Chicago) and Erick Carreira (ETH Zürich) have assembled an impressive, world-class team of Volume Editors and Contributing Authors. Each chapter has been painstakingly reviewed and checked for consistent high quality. The result is an authoritative overview which ties the literature together and provides the user with a reliable background information and citation resource.

Chiral Recognition in the Gas Phase

Chiral Recognition in the Gas Phase PDF Author: Anne Zehnacker
Publisher: CRC Press
ISBN: 1420082280
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 250

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Book Description
Understanding the molecular interactions responsible for chiral recognition is of primary importance in life chemistry. Gas-phase experiments on either neutral or ionic adducts of chiral molecules allow for the study of intrinsic properties of chiral recognition in solvent-free conditions. With contributions from a panel of international experts ex

The Origin and Early Evolution of Life: Prebiotic Chemistry of Biomolecules

The Origin and Early Evolution of Life: Prebiotic Chemistry of Biomolecules PDF Author: Michele Fiore
Publisher: MDPI
ISBN: 3039216066
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 288

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Book Description
Studying the origin of life is one of man’s greatest achievements over the last sixty years. The fields of interest encompassed by this quest are multiple and interdisciplinary: chemistry, physics, biology, biochemistry, mathematics, geology but also statistics, atmospheric science, meteorology, oceanography, and astrophysics. Recent scientific discoveries, such as water on Mars and the existence of super-Earths with atmospheres similar to primordial Earth, have pushed researchers to simulate prebiotic conditions in explaining the abiotic formation of molecules essential to life. This collection of articles offers an overview of recent discoveries in the field of prebiotic chemistry of biomolecules, their formation and selection, and the evolution of complex chemical systems.

Progress in Biological Chirality

Progress in Biological Chirality PDF Author: Gyula Palyi
Publisher: Elsevier
ISBN: 0080474039
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 445

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Book Description
Following on from Advances in BioChirality, Progress in Biological Chirality provides a unique summary and review of the most recent developments in the field of biochirality. Living organisms use only one enantiomer of chiral molecules in the majority of biologically important processes. The exact origin and mechanisms for this surprising selectivity are not yet known. This book discusses current research aimed at identifying the scientific reasons that may contribute to this phenomenon. Progress in Biological Chirality takes an interdisciplinary approach to this exciting field, covering a wide range of topics, such as, theory, palaeontology and food technology, to name but a few. This book presents findings via a broad spectrum of scientific approaches making it an excellent overview of Biological Chirality, suitable for postgraduate students, practitioners and researchers in the field of chemistry, biochemistry, biology, palaeontology, and food science with an interest in Chirality. - This book contains 32 chapters written by Authors, who are leading authorities in the field - Presents the most recent research taking place in this highly challenging field - Contains both reference material for the specialist and provides an overview for those who are interested in the fundamental problems of biology and chemistry

Asymmetry in Biological Homochirality

Asymmetry in Biological Homochirality PDF Author: David Hochberg
Publisher: MDPI
ISBN: 3036504427
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 102

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Book Description
Chirality, or handedness, is a fundamental physical characteristic, which spans the length scales ranging from elementary particles to the chiral asymmetry of spiral galaxies. The way in which chirality in chemistry, or molecular handedness, may have emerged in a primitive terrestrial environment, and how it can be triggered, amplified, and transferred, are deeply challenging problems rooted in both fundamental scientific interests and the technological potentials for science and society. Chirality constitutes a unifying feature of the living world and is a prime driving force for molecular selection and genetic evolution in biology. In this book, we offer a selection of five distinct approaches to this problem by leading experts in the field. The selected topics range from protein chirality and its relevance to protein ageing, protein aggregation and neurodegeneration, entropy production associated with chiral symmetry breaking in closed systems, chiral oscillations in polymerization models involving higher-order oligomers, the mirror symmetry breaking in liquids and its implications for the development of homochirality in abiogenesis, the role of chirality in the chemical sciences, and some philosophical implications of chirality.

Origins of Life Volume II

Origins of Life Volume II PDF Author: Vladivoj Valkovic
Publisher: CRC Press
ISBN: 1040118070
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 384

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Book Description
In Origins of Life Volume II, life and its origin are inspected from traditional and unexpected points of view. The book takes an interdisciplinary approach, discussing astrobiology; chemical evolution; and how the Universe accommodates life, molecular biology, and philosophy. It is an open-minded approach, fully referenced throughout, and each chapter includes a further reading section for anyone wishing to learn more about that perspective on the origins of life. First, everything started, with the Big Bang, from nothing. It appears now that everything was aiming toward our existence, some 13.75 × 109 years later, being capable of understanding it all. We did it using powerful tools: science, philosophy, and religion. Although we appreciate the contributions made by philosophy and religion, our contemplations and doubts are based on the plentiful scientific evidence provided. The reader will be guided from make-up of the "life stage" (Universe), tools and materials needed for the living matter to be formed in the small part of the Universe, which one could call Human Neighborhood, or the Local Universe. It contains galaxies, galaxy clusters, and voids, and the Milky Way and its satellites influencing each other during this time span. The book is easy to read, accompanied by numerous references; it could be of use to the expert in the field as well as for curious minds with a scientific, philosophical, or religious background.

On Chirality and the Universal Asymmetry

On Chirality and the Universal Asymmetry PDF Author: Georges H. Wagnière
Publisher: John Wiley & Sons
ISBN: 3906390608
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 256

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Book Description
Until half a century ago, it was assumed that the forces of nature were symmetric and that they did not distinguish between right and left, between image and mirror image. The discovery of the violation of parity in 1956 was more than a sensation, for some it was a shock. It implied that the universe displays handedness, or chirality, and that it is fundamentally asymmetric. Remarkably, a most striking asymmetry is encountered in the realm of biology. Living organisms contain proteins built almost exclusively from L-amino acids, and nucleic acids derived from D-sugars only. Yet a mirror-image biochemistry, based on D-amino acids and L-sugars is, from a purely chemical standpoint, entirely conceivable. Where, then, does this extraordinary natural selectivity come from? Is it directly, or indirectly, connected to the universal violation of parity? This book is meant as a brief review of the various manifestations of handedness, or chirality, in the universe. It does not attempt to present a solution to basic questions which perhaps will never be unambiguously and conclusively answered. Rather, it is an excursion through nature, to observe and recognize how the chirality manifests itself at different structural levels. The excursion starts in the chemistry and physics laboratory. Then a journey into outer space and back in time is undertaken. After a return to our planet Earth, the focus is on the development of living organisms. The text should be accessible to anyone having the equivalent of a first-year university instruction in physics and chemistry. It is also hoped that a layperson with a more modest scientific formation may gain a general impression of the basic asymmetry in nature and of the fundamental significance of chirality. Mathematical expressions, wherever they occur, may then be overlooked. Some more difficult sections may be skipped. A Glossary preceding the Subject Index should be helpful.

Prebiotic Chemistry

Prebiotic Chemistry PDF Author: Peter Walde
Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media
ISBN: 9783540277590
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 248

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Book Description


Is Earth Exceptional?

Is Earth Exceptional? PDF Author: Dr. Mario Livio
Publisher: Basic Books
ISBN: 1541602978
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 292

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Book Description
A New York Times–bestselling astrophysicist and a Nobel laureate describe the quest to discover how and where the universe breathed life into matter For a long time, scientists have wondered how life has emerged from inanimate chemistry, and whether Earth is the only place where it exists. Charles Darwin speculated about life on Earth beginning in a warm little pond. Some of his contemporaries believed that life existed on Mars. It once seemed inevitable that the truth would be known by now. It is not. For more than a century, the origins and extent of life have remained shrouded in mystery. But, as Mario Livio and Jack Szostak reveal in Is Earth Exceptional?, the veil is finally lifting. The authors describe how life’s building blocks—from RNA to amino acids and cells—could have emerged from the chaos of Earth’s early existence. They then apply the knowledge gathered from cutting-edge research across the sciences to the search for life in the cosmos: both life as we know it and life as we don’t. Why and where life exists are two of the biggest unsolved problems in science. Is Earth Exceptional? is the ultimate exploration of the question of whether life is a freak accident or a chemical imperative.