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Evolution, Chemical

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Encyclopedia of Astrobiology

  • 216 Accesses

Synonyms

Prebiotic chemistry

Definition

Chemical evolution refers to the suite of natural reactions that led to the first living systems from abiotically synthesized molecules on the primitive Earth. Since this was a historical process and we have no relics of the compounds formed in this process, chemists can only model chemical evolution by running experiments, chemical reconstructions also known as prebiotic chemistry.

Overview

Although primitive life is generally believed to have been organic, that is, based on carbon chemistry, the precise sequence of steps that allowed for the formation of living systems from abiotic chemistry remains poorly constrained and somewhat speculative. Chemical evolution is the study of the processes that led from simple molecules to biochemistry.

There are presently numerous scenarios for this process which scientists consider plausible. Among them is the idea of a genetic mineral material presenting suitable properties such as the ability to store and...

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References and Further Reading

  • Cairns-Smith AG (1982) Genetic takeover. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge

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  • Morowitz H (1992) Beginnings of cellular life. Yale University Press, New Haven

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  • Wächtershäuser G (2007) On the chemistry and evolution of the pioneer organism. Chem Biodiv 4:584–602

    Article  Google Scholar 

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Centre de Biophysique Moléculaire CNRS, Rue Charles Sadron, 45071, cedex 2, Orléans, France

    André Brack

Authors
  1. André Brack
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to André Brack .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Centro de Biología Molecular, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, Madrid, Spain

    Ricardo Amils

  2. Labo. d'Astrophysique de Bordeaux (LAB), Observatoire Aquitain des Sciences de l'Univers (OASU), Floirac CX, France

    Muriel Gargaud

  3. Centro de Astrobiología (CAB), Inst. Nacional de Técnica Aeroespacial, Torrejón de Ardoz, Madrid, Spain

    José Cernicharo Quintanilla

  4. Geophysical Lab., Carnegie Institution of Washington, Washington, District of Columbia, USA

    Henderson James Cleaves

  5. Astronomy Department, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, Massachusetts, USA

    William M. Irvine

  6. Dépt. Sc. de la Terre et de l’Atmosphère, Université du Québec, Montréal, Montreal, Québec, Canada

    Daniele Pinti

  7. Centre National d'Etudes Spatiale (CNES) DPI/E2U, Paris CX, France

    Michel Viso

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© 2014 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg

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Brack, A. (2014). Evolution, Chemical. In: Amils, R., et al. Encyclopedia of Astrobiology. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-27833-4_268-3

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-27833-4_268-3

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-642-27833-4

  • eBook Packages: Springer Reference Physics and AstronomyReference Module Physical and Materials ScienceReference Module Chemistry, Materials and Physics

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