Role of Ultraviolet Radiation in the Origin of Life

Björn, Lars Olof; Li, Shaoshan; Qiu, Qiu; Wang, Yutao

doi:10.1007/978-1-4939-1468-5_27

Cited by 3 publications

(2 citation statements)

References 58 publications

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“…Therefore, the destructive effects of UV on prebiotic and biotic compounds have always been considered the major limiting factor for life originated on the water surface of early Earth (Sagan, 1973 ; Oparin, 1974 ; Cleaves and Miller, 1998 ; Messerotti and Chela-Flores, 2006 ; Björn et al, 2015 ; Todd et al, 2021 ). How can phospholipid vesicles, which are formed and tend to concentrate at the air-water interface, be spared from being dismantled into individual phospholipid molecules by strong UV radiation?…”

Section: The Extended Version Of Our Modelmentioning

confidence: 99%

Exploring the Lipid World Hypothesis: A Novel Scenario of Self-Sustained Darwinian Evolution of the Liposomes

Субботин

Fiksel

2023

Astrobiology

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According to the Lipid World hypothesis, life on Earth originated with the emergence of amphiphilic assemblies in the form of lipid micelles and vesicles (liposomes). However, the mechanism of appearance of the information molecules (ribozymes/RNA) accompanying that process, considered obligatory for Darwinian evolution, is unclear. We propose a novel scenario of self-sustained Darwinian evolution of the liposomes driven by ever-present natural phenomena: solar UV radiation, day/night cycle, gravity, and the formation of liposomes in an aqueous media. The central tenet of this scenario is the liposomes' encapsulation of the heavy solutes, followed by their gravitational submerging in the water. The submerged liposomes, being protected from the damaging UV radiation, acquire the longevity necessary for autocatalytic replication of amphiphiles, their mutation, and the selection of those amphiphilic assemblies that provide the greatest membrane stability. These two sets of adaptive compositional information (heavy content and amphiphilic assemblies design) generate a population of liposomes with self-replication/reproduction properties, which are amendable to mutation, inheritance, and selection, thereby establishing Darwinian progression. Temporary and spatial expansion of this liposomal population will provide the basis for the next evolutionary step—a transition of accidentally entrapped RNA precursor molecules into complex functional molecules, such as ribozymes/RNA.

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Section: The Extended Version Of Our Modelmentioning

confidence: 99%

Exploring the Lipid World Hypothesis: A Novel Scenario of Self-Sustained Darwinian Evolution of the Liposomes

Субботин

Fiksel

2023

Astrobiology

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“…In the most extreme scenario, intense flare activity could render the immediate planet surface uninhabitable, though life could survive in the ocean, in rocks, or under shallow layers of soil or dust (Diaz & Schulze-Makuch 2006;Kiang et al 2007;Bryce et al 2015;Tilley et al 2017;Estrela & Valio 2018). More optimistically, flares may also power prebiotic chemistry, produce surface biosignatures, or serve as a source of otherwise scarce photosynetic radiation on planets orbiting M-dwarfs (Björn et al 2015;Airapetian et al 2016;Mullan & Bais 2018). Indeed, recent work suggests that flares might be the only means for delivering the UV photons which have been proposed to be required to initiate life on exoplanets around M-dwarf stars (Ranjan et al 2017;Rimmer et al 2018).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Stellar Flares from the First TESS Data Release: Exploring a New Sample of M Dwarfs

Günther¹,

et al. 2020

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We perform a study of stellar flares for the 24,809 stars observed with 2 minute cadence during the first two months of the TESS mission. Flares may erode exoplanets' atmospheres and impact their habitability, but might also trigger the genesis of life around small stars. TESS provides a new sample of bright dwarf stars in our galactic neighborhood, collecting data for thousands of M-dwarfs that might host habitable exoplanets. Here, we use an automated search for flares accompanied by visual inspection. Then, our public allesfitter code robustly selects the appropriate model for potentially complex flares via Bayesian evidence. We identify 763 flaring stars, 632 of which are M-dwarfs. Among 3247 flares in total, the largest superflare increased the stellar brightness by a factor of 15.7. Bolometric flare energies range from 10 31 to 10 38.7 erg, with a median of 10 32.8 erg. Furthermore, we study the flare rate and energy as a function of stellar type and rotation period. We solidify past findings that fast rotating M-dwarfs are the most likely to flare, and that their flare amplitude is independent of the rotation period. Finally, we link our results to criteria for prebiotic chemistry, atmospheric loss through coronal mass ejections, and ozone sterilization. Four of our flaring M-dwarfs host exoplanet candidates alerted on by TESS, for which we discuss how these effects can impact life. With upcoming TESS data releases, our flare analysis can be expanded to almost all bright small stars, aiding in defining criteria for exoplanet habitability.

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Comment on “Fundamental molecules of life are pigments which arose and co-evolved as a response to the thermodynamic imperative of dissipating the prevailing solar spectrum” by K. Michaelian and A. Simeonov (2015)

Björn

2022

Biogeosciences

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Abstract. This is a comment on Michaelian and Simeonov (2015). Michaelian and Simeonov formulate the leading thought in their article: “The driving force behind the origin and evolution of life has been the thermodynamic imperative of increasing the entropy production of the biosphere through increasing the global solar photon dissipation rate”. I shall in the following try to provide some information that might help to clarify whether this is correct.

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Role of Ultraviolet Radiation in the Origin of Life

Cited by 3 publications

References 58 publications

Exploring the Lipid World Hypothesis: A Novel Scenario of Self-Sustained Darwinian Evolution of the Liposomes

Exploring the Lipid World Hypothesis: A Novel Scenario of Self-Sustained Darwinian Evolution of the Liposomes

Stellar Flares from the First TESS Data Release: Exploring a New Sample of M Dwarfs

Comment on “Fundamental molecules of life are pigments which arose and co-evolved as a response to the thermodynamic imperative of dissipating the prevailing solar spectrum” by K. Michaelian and A. Simeonov (2015)

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