Abstract
Life is characterized by broken mirror symmetry (Pályi et al., 1999). On the molecular level, proteins are composed almost exclusively of L-amino acids while nucleic acids only contain D-sugars. Without this chiral asymmetry, prebiotic molecular complexity leading to the formation of biologically active polymers could probably not have evolved (Joyce et al., 1984; Avetisov and Goldanskii, 1991). Nevertheless, more than 1½ century after Pasteur’s discovery, the origin of biomolecular chiral asymmetry is still a mystery. Meanwhile, it is accepted that homochirality has already appeared early during chemical evolution and that a homochiral molecular environment was rather a pre-condition than a consequence of life (Keszthelyi, 1995; Avalos et al., 2000). Parity violation (MacDermott, 1993) and other chiral factors such as circularly polarized light are omnipresent and can lead under favorable conditions to enantio-meric enrichment. However, this enhancement usually remains tiny and can be annihilated by long-term racemization processes.
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Rivera Islas, J., Micheau, J.C., Buhse, T. (2004). The Origin of Biomolecular Chirality. In: Seckbach, J., Chela-Flores, J., Owen, T., Raulin, F. (eds) Life in the Universe. Cellular Origin and Life in Extreme Habitats and Astrobiology, vol 7. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-1003-0_10
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-1003-0_10
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