The DOI matches its Crossref record; 20 of the 20 references it cites were found in a registry or an index.
The First Cell Membranes
Abstract
Organic compounds are synthesized in the interstellar medium and can be delivered to planetary surfaces such as the early Earth, where they mix with endogenous species. Some of these compounds are amphiphilic, having polar and nonpolar groups on the same molecule. Amphiphilic compounds spontaneously self-assemble into more complex structures such as bimolecular layers, which in turn form closed membranous vesicles. The first forms of cellular life required self-assembled membranes that were likely to have been produced from amphiphilic compounds on the prebiotic Earth. Laboratory simulations show that such vesicles readily encapsulate functional macromolecules, including nucleic acids and polymerases. The goal of future investigations will be to fabricate artificial cells as models of the origin of life.
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“The basic constituents of RNA molecules, such as D-ribose, phosphate, and the four bases—adenine (A), guanine (G), cytosine (C), and uracil (U), along with unused nucleotides, were delivered to the hydrothermal crater lake by meteorites [2,3,4].”
From The Origin of Prebiotic Information System in the Peptide/RNA World: A Simulation Model of the Evolution of Translation and the Genetic Code (2019) · cites this paper as [3]
Citations
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Cited by
Sorted by citations
Prebiotic chemistry and the origin of the RNA world.
Leslie E., O. (2004) · Critical Reviews in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology · doi:10.1080/10409230490460765 · Cited by 1,124
“David Deamer and his coworkers (Deamer et al., 2002) have explored the possibility of forming membrane structures from prebiotic amphiphilic organic matter.”
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Damer, B., & Deamer, D. (2020) · Astrobiology · doi:10.1089/ast.2019.2045 · Cited by 478
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Background
Metadata
- Authors
- Deamer, D., Dworkin, J. P., Sandford, S. A., Bernstein, M. P., & Allamandola, L. J.
- Affiliations
- University of California, Santa Cruz (US)
- Ames Research Center (US)
- Venue
- Astrobiology
- Publisher
- SAGE Publications
- Published
- 2002-12
- Volume
- 2
- Issue
- 4
- Pages
- 371-381
- ISSN
- 1531-1074 (ISSN-L)
- 1557-8070
- OpenAlex
- W1998228944
- Cited by
- 270
- References
- 0
- Citations by year
- 2026: 8 · 2025: 16 · 2024: 18 · 2023: 19 · 2022: 8 · 2021: 10 · 2020: 8 · 2019: 13 · 2018: 15 · 2017: 5 · 2016: 13 · 2015: 9 · 2014: 10 · 2013: 11 · 2012: 14
- FWCI
- 0.65
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Astrobiology (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 › Space Science and Extraterrestrial Life
- Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Molecular Biology › RNA and protein synthesis mechanisms
- Keywords
- origin of life, plasma membrane, amphiphilic molecules, self-assembly, membrane vesicles, prebiotic chemistry, interstellar medium, early Earth, nucleic acid encapsulation, artificial cells
- MeSH terms
- Origin of Life, Cell Membrane, Cells, Biological Evolution, Extraterrestrial Environment, Models, Biological, Earth, Planet, Exobiology
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