Tracing the origin of life

A team of researchers led by Michel Farizon of the University of Lyon and Tilmann Märk of the University of Innsbruck has now made a significant discovery in the field of abiotic peptide chain formation from amino acids for the smallest occurring amino acid, glycine, a molecule that has been observed several times extraterrestrially in recent years. A study published in the Journal of Physical Chemistry A, which also made the cover of the journal, shows that small clusters of glycine molecules exhibit polymerization upon energy input. A reaction occurs within a cluster consisting of two glycine molecules. The two amino acids become a dipeptide and a water molecule. The reaction of a dipeptide to a tripeptide within a cluster was also demonstrated by the researchers.

"Our study sheds light on the less likely unimolecular scenario for the formation of such amino acid chains in the extreme conditions of space," says Michel Farizon. "We were able to show that peptide chain growth occurs through unimolecular reactions in excited cluster ions, without the need for contact with an additional partner such as dust or ice."

The current work provides evidence that the first step toward the origin of life can occur in the highly unlikely conditions of space. "The study is an important milestone on the route to understanding the origins of life. The results will serve as a basis for further research in this field," Michel Farizon and Tilmann Märk are convinced.