This Science News Wire page contains a press release issued by an organization and is provided to you "as is" with little or no review from Science X staff.

New book provides summary of research into the origins of life on Earth

June 29th, 2010
New book provides summary of research into the origins of life on Earth
The front cover of "The Origins of Life" shows a model of a simple protocell, consisting of a fatty acid-based membrane encapsulating nucleic acid molecules that constitute the protocell's genome. The small molecules represent the nucleotide building blocks of the nucleic acid polymers, which are illustrated at various stages of replication. Credit: Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Press

Life arose on Earth more than three billion years ago. How the first self-replicating systems emerged from prebiotic chemistry and evolved into primitive cell-like entities is an area of intense research, spanning molecular and cellular biology, organic chemistry, cosmology, geology, and atmospheric science.

A comprehensive account of this research is provided in The Origins of Life, a new book from Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Press. It is edited by David Deamer and Jack Szostak, one of the winners of the 2009 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine.

"[T]he origin of life remains an open question, yet there is growing optimism in the scientific community that we are getting closer to an answer," write Deamer and Szostak in the preface. Each of the book's 20 chapters was written by one or more experts in a particular subfield.

In The Origins of Life, the contributors describe the environment of the early Earth and the mechanisms by which the organic molecules present may have self-assembled to form replicating material such as RNA and other polymers. They examine the energetic requirements for this process and focus in particular on the essential role of semi-permeable compartments in containment of primitive genetic systems.

Also covered in the book are synthetic approaches for fabricating cellular systems, the potentially extraterrestrial origin of life's building blocks, and the possibility that life once existed on Mars. Comprising five sections—Setting The Stage, Components of First Life, Primitive Systems, First Polymers, and Transition to a Microbial World—it is a vital reference for all scientists interested in the origin of life on Earth and the likelihood that it has arisen on other planets.

More information:
About the book: The Origins of Life (ISBN 978-193611304-0; © 2010 Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Press) was edited by David Deamer (University of California, Santa Cruz) and Jack W. Szostak (Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Massachusetts General Hospital). It is hardcover and is 318 pp. in length (7" × 10"; illus., index). For more information, see www.cshlpress.com/link/originslife.htm

Provided by Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory

Citation: New book provides summary of research into the origins of life on Earth (2010, June 29) retrieved 19 August 2026 from https://sciencex.com/wire-news/39284980/new-book-provides-summary-of-research-into-the-origins-of-life-o.html
This document is subject to copyright. Apart from any fair dealing for the purpose of private study or research, no part may be reproduced without the written permission. The content is provided for information purposes only.
Back to list