"How has Darwin's research affected the development and organization of plants and animals?"
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Question
Is there any evidence of amino acids or other organic compounds being possibly able to "seed" life on other planets?
Organic compounds like amino acids are the chemical building blocks of life, not the seeds of life. We know of a variety of chemical processes that can form such complex organic compounds, and these can indeed be exchanged between planets, by comet impact for example. Many astrobiologists think that some of these building blocks for life came to the Earth in that way. However, this process does not address the major challenge of understanding now life itself began -- the transition from the non-living to the living world. Perhaps life too could be transferred between planets, but that is a different question (and a question we cannot yet answer).
David Morrison
NAI Senior Scientist
October 8, 2008
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