The origin of life is one of the biggest unsolved scientific questions. This book deals with the formation and first steps of the chemical evolution of nucleic acids, including the chemical roots behind the origin of their components from the simplest sources in a geochemical context. Chemical evolution encompasses the chemical processes and interactions conducive to self-assembly and supramolecular organization, leading to an increase of complexity and the emergence of life.

The book starts with a personal account of the pioneering work of Stanley Miller and Jeffrey Bada on the Chemistry of Origins of Life and how the development of organic chemistry beginning in the 19th century led to the emergence of the field of prebiotic chemistry, situated at the frontier between organic, geo- and biochemistry. It then continues reviewing in tutorial manner current central topics regarding the organization of nucleic acids: the origin of nucleobases and nucleosides, their phosphorylation and polymerization and ultimately, their self-assembly and supramolecular organization at the inception of life.

Deals with the firsts steps of the chemical evolution of nucleic acids Addresses state-of-the-art questions about the organization of nucleic acids Also includes a historical review of the field

Autorentext
Dr. Menor-Salvan is astrobiologist and Professor of Biochemistry at Universidad de Alcala (Spain), and scientist affiliated to the Center for Chemical Evolution (Georgia Institute of Technology, USA). His main research interest is the Prebiotic Chemistry and Chemical Evolution of biopolymers and Origins of Life.

Inhalt

1. Nucleobases on the primitive Earth: their sources and stabilities.- 2. Condensation and decomposition of nucleotides in simulated hydrothermal fields.- 3. Mineral-Organic Interactions in Prebiotic Synthesis. The Discontinuous Synthesis Model for the Formation of RNA in Naturally Complex Geological Environments.- 4. From the dawn of Organic Chemistry to Astrobiology: urea as a foundational component in the origin of nucleobases and nucleotides.- 5. Searching for possible ancestors of RNA: The self-assembly hypothesis for the origin of proto-RNA.- 6. The origin of the ionized linker: Geochemical predestination for phosphate?.- 7. Template-directed replication of nucleic acids mediated by viscous environments.- 8. Folding and catalysis near life's origin: support for Fe2+ as a dominant divalent cation.- 9. Connections between mathematical models of prebiotic evolution and homochirality.- 10. Network theory in Prebiotic Evolution.