Poisonous Chemical Linked to Origin of Life on Earth , page 1

privacy

Pages:
ATS Members have flagged this thread 5 times

Topic started on 7-4-2011 @ 06:10 AM by TKDRL

The poisonous chemical formaldehyde may have helped create the organic compounds present in the universe that gave rise to life, new research suggests.

Formaldehyde, which is composed of carbon, hydrogen and oxygen, is a common molecule found throughout the solar system. It's also famous on Earth for its use in embalming and preserving biological specimens.

Organic molecules, which contain carbon, are found in solid form in both comets and asteroids. Scientists have long wondered how these materials, which are the building blocks for all life on Earth, were created. Now researchers say they were likely made from formaldehyde in the primitive solar system. [7 Theories on the Origin of Life] "We may owe our existence on this planet to interstellar formaldehyde," said researcher George Cody of the Geophysical Laboratory at the Carnegie Institution for Science in Washington, D.C., in a statement. "And what's ironic about it is that formaldehyde is poisonous to life on Earth."

Story

I saw this on my way out the door on the yahoo page. Sounds interesting to me, anyone know anything about this? This is the first I heard of it.

reply posted on 7-4-2011 @ 08:27 AM by iterationzero

reply to post by TKDRL

S&F! Good find!

I saw this on my way out the door on the yahoo page. Sounds interesting to me, anyone know anything about this? This is the first I heard of it.

If you mean that formaldehyde, regardless of origin, is one of the probable building block of early life on Earth, I think that's one of those things that, as a chemist, I've always taken for granted. Formaldehyde and cyanide readily form glycine, the simplest amino acid, via the Strecker synthesis. Want a different amino acid? Easy, use a different aldehyde.

If you mean the chondritic origin of the compounds, I know there's been research going on in that area for at least the last 20 or 30 years. Look for research done by Hyman Hartman if you want to check out some more information on it.

reply posted on 7-4-2011 @ 08:31 AM by Slipdig1

Its interesting that it is poisonous to life, but could actually have helped creating it. Something that we would never have looked for, amazing.

reply posted on 8-4-2011 @ 05:06 AM by TKDRL

Another thing that is strange, is that this poison is used to smoke and get high with(formaldehyde)... It really kills the brain, people that do that crap regularly are like walking zombies....

reply posted on 5-5-2011 @ 12:37 PM by Horza2002

As a chemist, as has already been said above, that doesn't suprise me at all. Formaldyde is actually a relatively common molecule in the Universe and is a simple building block for many more complex molecules.

I don't think its strange that its toxic and almost certinaly involved in the origins of life. You need to remember that life now is very very very very different from the original life that would have formed on the planet. Formaldehyde is not toxic to all living organisms now, mainly just the more complex ones. So, overal, not very suprising.

Pages: ^^TOP^^