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Ambiguity in the Interpretation of Abiotic Syntheses

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Cosmochemical Evolution and the Origins of Life

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Abstract

The main conclusion from abiotic syntheses is that modern organisms prefer molecular units that are easy to make. This could be the result of selection pressures during very early evolution rather than a reflection of the large scale molecular environment within which life first arose. As previously discussed (Cairns-Smith, 1971) there seems to be no good reason to limit our thinking on initial hereditary systems to those with chemical similarity to modern forms.

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References

  • Cairns-Smith, A. G.: 1966, J. Theor. Biol. 10, 53.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Chemistry Department, University of Glasgow, G12 8QQ, Glasgow, Scotland

    A. G. Cairns-Smith

Authors
  1. A. G. Cairns-Smith
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Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Departments of Biophysical Sciences and Chemistry, University of Houston, Houston, Texas, USA

    J. Oró

  2. Universidad Autónoma de Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain

    J. Oró

  3. Department of Chemistry, University of California, San Diego, California, USA

    S. L. Miller

  4. Laboratory of Chemical Evolution, Department of Chemistry, University of Maryland, College Park, Maryland, USA

    C. Ponnamperuma

  5. NASA, Washington, D.C, USA

    R. S. Young (Head of Planetary Biology) (Head of Planetary Biology)

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© 1974 D. Reidel Publishing Company, Dordrecht, Holland

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Cairns-Smith, A.G. (1974). Ambiguity in the Interpretation of Abiotic Syntheses. In: Oró, J., Miller, S.L., Ponnamperuma, C., Young, R.S. (eds) Cosmochemical Evolution and the Origins of Life. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-010-2282-8_31

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-010-2282-8_31

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Dordrecht

  • Print ISBN: 978-94-010-2284-2

  • Online ISBN: 978-94-010-2282-8

  • eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive

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