Playing God with Primordial Soup

Abstract

Since the original Miller–Urey experiment where a mixture of methane, ammonia, hydrogen, and water under spark discharges was found to be able to produce amino acids (Chap. 1), there have been many follow-up experiments to test the synthesis of organic matter under simulated primitive Earth atmospheres under different energy inputs such as ultraviolet light or heat. A sample used by Stanley Miller in 1958 was retrieved from archive and re-analyzed with modern instruments. This sample contains a mixture of methane, ammonia, H₂S and carbon dioxide. The inclusion of the element sulfur was intended to simulate the condition under volcanic plumes. Putting this mixture under a spark discharge, a group at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography in San Diego, California, found a total of 23 amino acids as products. This new experiment confirms and extends the conclusion of Miller that prebiotic molecules can be produced on Earth under suitable conditions.