Montmorillonit Kili ve YAŞAMIN BAŞLANGICI
Aşağıda ingilizce özeti verilen
yakın
tarihli bir bilimsel çalışma Bilim Dünyasında büyük bir yankı uyandırmıştır.
Bu çalışmada, montmorillonitin kilinin RNA ile olan ilişkileri incelenmiş,
analizler sonucunda elde edilen veriler ışığında,
YAŞAMIN BAŞLANGICI
için önemli iki bileşen olan, genetik materyal ve hücre zarlarının, birbirleriyle
eşleştirilmesinde montmorillonit kilinin çok önemli ve etken bir vazife
üstlenmiş olabileceği ortaya konmuştur.
Martin M. Hanczyc,* Shelly M. Fujikawa,* Jack W. Szostak†
The clay montmorillonite
is known to catalyze the polymerization of RNA from activated ribonucleotides.
Here we report that montmorillonite accelerates the spontaneous conversion
of fatty acid micelles into vesicles. Clay particles often become encapsulated
in these vesicles, thus providing a pathway for the prebioticen capsulation
of catalytically active surfaces within membrane vesicles. In addition,
RNA adsorbed to clay can be encapsulated within vesicles. Once formed,
such vesicles can grow by incorporating fatty acid supplied as micellesand
can divide without dilution of their contents by extrusion through small
pores. These processes mediate vesicle replication through cycles of growth
and division. The formation, growth, and division of the earliest cells
may have occurred in response to similar interactions with mineral particles
and inputs of material and energy.
Science (vol 302,
p 618) |
Two of the crucial components for the origin of life - genetic material and cell membranes - could have been introduced to one another by montmorillonite, new experiments have shown.
