"Were the pictures of nebulae in space taken in color or was the color added later?"
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Solid State NMR Studies of Prebiotic Scenarios
PI: Judith Herzfeld
A variety of intriguing prebiotic scenarios involve systems that are difficult to study by conventional methods. Here we identify several well known systems for which NMR, particularly solid state NMR, can provide unique probes capable of answering unresolved questions.
We propose carrying out definitive studies of two systems for which we have interesting preliminary results. Both involve the spontaneous polymerization of small molecules that would have been ubiquitous in prebiotic environments. In the first case, the question is whether a proposed direct pathway to polypeptides exists. In the second case, we seek to determine what kinds of chemical activity could occur inside the microspherules that are formed. Both of these investigations require probes of amorphous polymers.
We also propose undertaking feasibility and demonstration studies for systems in which minerals have been shown to perform enzyme-like functions. Here we seek to understand how catalytic mineral surfaces interact with and modify bound reactants and products. These studies require probes of immobilized and exchanging substrates.
The insights obtained will contribute directly to the goal of the NASA Astrobiology Program “to understand the pathways and processes leading from the origin of planetary bodies to the origin of life”, focusing particularly on “determining what chemical systems could have served as precursors of metabolic and replicating systems on Earth and elsewhere”. This information is important to inform the pursuit of the NASA objectives to “advance scientific knowledge of the origin and history of the solar system [and] the potential for life elsewhere” and “to discover the origin, structure, evolution and destiny of the universe”. In particular, our studies should allow the prebiotic significance of specific molecular processes to be better assessed and could thereby influence what molecules we look for as signs of the habitability of other parts of the universe.
February 10, 2012
