Prebiotic Synthesis of Adenine and Amino Acids Under Europa-like Conditions
Abstract
In order to simulate prebiotic synthetic processes on Europa and other ice-covered planets and satellites, we have investigated the prebiotic synthesis of organic compounds from dilute solutions of NH4CN frozen for 25 years at -20 and -78 degrees C. In addition, the aqueous products of spark discharge reactions from a reducing atmosphere were frozen for 5 years at -20 degrees C. We find that both adenine and guanine, as well as a simple set of amino acids dominated by glycine, are produced in substantial yields under these conditions. These results indicate that some of the key components necessary for the origin of life may have been available on Europa throughout its history and suggest that the circumstellar zone where life might arise may be wider than previously thought.
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Key amino acids form most easily in cold conditions during prebiotic synthesis.
“Experiments by Miller and colleagues (Bada et al. 1994;Levy et al. 2000) showed that prebiotic synthesis of key amino acids occur most readily under cold conditions.”
From Environmental Adaptation from the Origin of Life to the Last Universal Common Ancestor (2018) · cites this paper as Levy et al. 2000
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- Authors
- Levy, M.
- Affiliations
- University of California San Diego (US)
- Corresponding author
- Levy, M
- ORCID
- Levy, M
- Venue
- Icarus
- Publisher
- Elsevier BV
- Published
- 2000-06
- Volume
- 145
- Issue
- 2
- Pages
- 609-613
- ISSN
- 0019-1035 (ISSN-L)
- OpenAlex
- W2009174209
- Cited by
- 149
- References
- 39
- Citations by year
- 2026: 4 · 2025: 3 · 2024: 9 · 2023: 9 · 2022: 5 · 2021: 6 · 2020: 9 · 2019: 3 · 2018: 12 · 2017: 6 · 2016: 1 · 2015: 1 · 2014: 5 · 2013: 13 · 2012: 8
- FWCI
- 4.67
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Icarus (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Funders
- National Aeronautics and Space Administration
- Topics
- Physical Sciences › Physics and Astronomy › Astronomy and Astrophysics › Origins and Evolution of Life
- Physical Sciences › Physics and Astronomy › Astronomy and Astrophysics › Astro and Planetary Science
- Physical Sciences › Physics and Astronomy › Astronomy and Astrophysics › Space Science and Extraterrestrial Life
- Keywords
- prebiotic synthesis, adenine, amino acids, Europa, origin of life, spark discharge, glycine, guanine, icy satellites, habitable zone, frozen aqueous solutions
- MeSH terms
- Adenine, Amino Acids, Cyanides, Freezing, Guanine, Hydrogen Cyanide, Ice, Jupiter, Exobiology, Evolution, Chemical
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