"Why is it believed that life originated below the surface, and not above ground?"
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Question
Why has life preferred D-amino acids instead of L-amino acids for protein formations?
As far as I know, this is a mystery. In natural chemical systems without life, the two asymmetric chiral forms are produced in approximately equal quantities. Also, proteins of both chiralities can fold, a property essential for life. Some scientists suggest that carbon-based life like our own could exist with either chirality, and that it may have been an accident that one form prevailed on Earth. It is certain, however, that once life developed using proteins of one chirality, this form would remain in use, and other mirror-image proteins would not be assimilated into these living things. David Morrison
NAI Senior Scientist
January 16, 2007
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