60秒科学:Salty Origins for Early Earth Biomolecules

Salty Origins for Early Earth Biomolecules
In a study presented at the European Planetary Science Conference in Potsdam, researchers proposed that salt deposits on the early Earth's volcanic² coasts enabled the conversion³ of amino acids into other important molecules¹ for the start of life. Cynthia Graber reports

The early Earth’s oceans were home to a lot of interesting chemistry. Now scientists have found that amino acids thought to be present way back when could have been cooked into other compounds vital for life—an idea you should take with a grain of salt.

Four billion years ago, the planet was probably covered by a salty ocean, dotted with volcanic islands and short lived continents. German researchers recently mimicked⁴ some of the chemistry taking place along the coasts of the volcanic islands. They created an approximation of primordial⁵ seawater. Then they evaporated it, to simulate what went on at those volcanic coasts. They baked the residue⁶, creating salt crusts.

At those high temperatures, amino acids interacted with metal ions in the salt crusts and were converted into other important biological molecules, such as pyrroles—which are part of the structures of chlorophyll in plants and hemoglobin in animals. The scientists presented their findings September 17th at the European Planetary Science Conference in Potsdam.

Over hundreds of thousands of years, these novel compounds could have built up along the volcanic coasts, creating materials for the first living cells. Which were really worth their salt.

—Cynthia Graber

1 molecules   

分子( molecule的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The structure of molecules can be seen under an electron microscope. 分子的结构可在电子显微镜下观察到。
• Inside the reactor the large molecules are cracked into smaller molecules. 在反应堆里，大分子裂变为小分子。

2 volcanic   

adj.火山的；象火山的；由火山引起的

参考例句：

• There have been several volcanic eruptions this year.今年火山爆发了好几次。
• Volcanic activity has created thermal springs and boiling mud pools.火山活动产生了温泉和沸腾的泥浆池。

3 conversion   

n.转化，转换，转变

参考例句：

• He underwent quite a conversion.他彻底变了。
• Waste conversion is a part of the production process.废物处理是生产过程的一个组成部分。

4 mimicked   

v.（尤指为了逗乐而）模仿( mimic的过去式和过去分词 )；酷似

参考例句：

• He mimicked her upper-class accent. 他模仿她那上流社会的腔调。 来自辞典例句
• The boy mimicked his father's voice and set everyone off laughing. 男孩模仿他父亲的嗓音，使大家都大笑起来。 来自辞典例句

5 primordial   

adj.原始的；最初的

参考例句：

• It is the primordial force that propels us forward.它是推动我们前进的原始动力。
• The Neanderthal Man is one of our primordial ancestors.的尼安德特人是我们的原始祖先之一.

6 residue   

n.残余，剩余，残渣

参考例句：

• Mary scraped the residue of food from the plates before putting them under water.玛丽在把盘子放入水之前先刮去上面的食物残渣。
• Pesticide persistence beyond the critical period for control leads to residue problems.农药一旦超过控制的临界期，就会导致残留问题。