Chasing Synthetic Life: A Tale of Forms, Chemical Fossils, and Biomorphs

Abstract

This Essay focuses briefly on early studies elaborated by natural and chemical philosophers,a nd the oncecalled synthetic biologists,w ho postulated the transition from inanimate to animate matter and even foresaw the possibility of creating artificial life on the basis of physical and chemical principles only.S uch ideas and speculations,r anging from soundness to weirdness,p aved however the way to current developments in areas like abiotic pattern formation, cell compartmentalization, biomineralization, or the origin of life itself.I np articular,t he generation of biomorphs and their relationship to microfossils represents an active research domain and seems to be the logical way to bring the historical work up to the future,a ss ome scientists are trying to make artificial cells.The last sections of this essay will also highlight modern science aimed at understanding what life is and, whether or not, it can be redefined in chemical terms.

Plausible Emergence of Biochemistry in Enceladus Based on Chemobrionics

“…Chemobrionics, [3] the field that studies chemical gardens and related phenomena, has important implications in the origin‐of‐life research field [3–5] . Initially, chemical gardens were described as the inorganic biomimetic plant‐like structures that “grow” after seeding a metal (other than alkali) salt crystal in an alkaline silicate solution and were described in 1646 by Glauber [6] .…”

Formation and growth of lithium phosphate chemical gardens

“…Chemical gardens, the inanimate plant-like formations discovered by Johann Glauber in 1646, result upon placing transition metal salt crystals in water glass. 1 Researchers over the ages have been fascinated with these chemical structures, and numerous studies have been conducted in order to seek explanation for their evolution (for a review see Barge et al 2 ) and to explain their possible connection to the origin of life here, on Earth. [3][4][5] One of these attempts has been made by mimicking the conditions of a soda-type ocean found on Enceladus (Saturn's moon) in the laboratory.…”