Mineral Surfaces as a Cradle of Primordial Genetic Material

Abstract

Mols. which store genetic information (DNA and RNA) are central to all life on Earth. The formation of these complex macromols., and ultimately life, required specific conditions, including the synthesis and polymn. of precursors (nucleotides), the protection and persistence of information polymers in a changing environment, and the expression of the "biol. potential" of the mols., i.e. their capacity to multiply and evolve. Detg. how these steps occurred and how the earliest genetic mols. originated on Earth is a problem that is far from being resolved. Recent observations on the synthesis of polynucleotides on clay surfaces, the resistance of clay-adsorbed nucleic acid mols. to environmental degrdn. and the biol. activity of clay-adsorbed DNA and RNA mols. suggest that mineral surfaces could have played a crucial role in the prebiotic formation of the biomols. basic to life. [on SciFinder(R)]