Prebiotic Chemistry

Prebiotic Chemistry

The field of prebiotic chemistry studies chemical processes that may have contributed to the molecular origin of life on planet Earth. The focus is on processes that may have occurred prior to the beginning of biological evolution. A number of hypotheses exist on how molecular evolution may have occurred.

Selected References

R. Lohrmann, L.E.Orgel, Prebiotic activation processes. Nature. 1973, 244, 418-420.

S.A. Benner, A.D. Ellington, A. Tauer, Modern metabolism as a palimpsest of the RNA world. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 1989, 86, 7054-7058.

Gesteland, R.F.; Atkins, J.F. (eds.) The RNA World. Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Press, Cold Spring Harbor, 1993.

C. De Duve, The onset of selection. Nature 2005, 433, 581–582.

J.W. Szostak, The eightfold path to non-enzymatic RNA replication. J. Systems Chem. 2012, 3, 2.

K. Ruiz-Mirazo, C. Briones, A. de la Escosura, Prebiotic systems chemistry: New perspectives for the origins of life. Chem. Rev. 2014, 114, 285-366.

M. Frenkel-Pinter, M. Samanta, G. Ashkenasy, L. J. Leman, Prebiotic Peptides: Molecular Hubs in the Origin of Life. Chem. Rev. 2020, 120, 4707–4765.

W.F. Martin, K. Kleinermanns, The Geochemical Origin of Microbes. CRC Press, Boca Raton, 2024.