Abstract
All biomolecules are of one hand — but what determines which hand? Why is life based on L-amino acids and D-sugars rather than D-amino acids and L-sugars? We believe the symmetry-breaker could be the weak force, which causes enantiomers to differ very slightly in energy. In this paper we present our calculations of this parity-violating energy difference (PVED) for a range of important biomolecules, and in nearly all cases it is indeed the ‘natural’ enantiomer which is the more stable.
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Macdermott, A.J. Electro weak enantioselection and the origin of life. Origins Life Evol Biosphere 25, 191–199 (1995). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01581582
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01581582