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The Minimal Cell pp 105–121Cite as

The Minimal Cell and Life’s Origin: Role of Water and Aqueous Interfaces

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Abstract

The cell is rich with interfaces. But the role of these interfaces with water has received little attention among biologists, who generally consider water to be a mere background carrier of the more important molecules of life. Hydrophilic surfaces do impact water, and it has been recently shown that the impact is larger than anticipated. Surfaces order water to substantial distances. The ordered water excludes solutes and separates charge. These features not only contribute to the ­gel-like nature of the cell, but also lead to an inevitability that pre-cells will form out of simple environmental constituents. Hence, an experimentally based mechanism is advanced to explain both life’s origin its requirement for water.

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Acknowledgement

The consent of Ebner and Sons to reprint figures from Pollack (2001), is gratefully acknowledged.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Bioengineering 355061, University of Washington, 98195, Seattle, WA, USA

    Gerald H. Pollack, Xavier Figueroa & Qing Zhao

  2. State Key Laboratory for Mesoscopic Physics, and Electron Microscopy Laboratory, School of Physics, Peking University, 100871, Beijing, China

    Qing Zhao

Authors
  1. Gerald H. Pollack
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  2. Xavier Figueroa
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  3. Qing Zhao
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Gerald H. Pollack .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Dipto. Biologia, Università Roma Tre, Viale Guglielmo Marconi 446, Roma, 00146, Italy

    Pier Luigi Luisi

  2. , Biology Department, University of Roma Tre, Viale Guglielmo Marconi 446, Rome, 00146, Italy

    Pasquale Stano

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Pollack, G.H., Figueroa, X., Zhao, Q. (2011). The Minimal Cell and Life’s Origin: Role of Water and Aqueous Interfaces. In: Luisi, P., Stano, P. (eds) The Minimal Cell. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-90-481-9944-0_7

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