[ExI] Abiogenesis under extremes of pressure

[Stefano Vaj]

Why don't those people write their things down? :-)

On 9 June 2012 23:18, Giovanni Santostasi <gsantostasi at gmail.com> wrote:

> Here an interesting TED lectures on actual attempts of abiogenesis in the
> lab.
> http://www.ted.com/talks/martin_hanczyc_the_line_between_life_and_not_life.html
>
> Giovanni
>
>
> On Sat, Jun 9, 2012 at 3:22 PM, Dan <dan_ust at yahoo.com> wrote:
>
>> On Saturday, June 9, 2012 11:47 AM BillK <pharos at gmail.com> wrote
>> On Sat, Jun 9, 2012 at 3:58 PM, Dan wrote:
>> >> Only a very casual observer of the origins of life field, but I wonder
>> if
>> >> any work is being carried out to see if biologicals can be produced
>> under
>> >> extremely high or low pressures. Proteins and other organic compounds
>> (and,
>> >> heck, lots of things) behave differently under very high or very low
>> >> pressure. I'm not saying this will be the magic bullet -- squeeze some
>> amino
>> >> acids, lipids, and other goodies under a hundred atmospheres for a few
>> days
>> >> and out will crawl something we'll all recognize as alive -- but I'm
>> >> wondering if anyone is pursuing this approach.
>> >
>> > Lots of life in the deep ocean at up to 1000 atm pressure.
>> > See:
>> > <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deep_ocean>
>> > also
>> > <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hydrothermal_vents>
>>
>>
>> I'm not sure how my point could be misunderstood, but I was talking about
>> the origin of life NOT whether life currently exists under these
>> conditions. Yes, there is life there now -- just like therr's life in the
>> dirt outside my window and, heck, on the my window -- but I was wondering
>> whether anyone has done any sort of abiogenesis* experiments (or even
>> serious theorizing) under extreme pressures to see if that's a factor in
>> the origin of life. (This research can be pursued on either end of the
>> spectrum too: very high pressures or very low ones. Maybe, as chemical
>> reactions are impacted, this might lead to some progress, such as, perhaps,
>> finding that high pressure lead to the formation of more complicated
>> precursors or to life itself.)
>>
>> (And, regarding hydrothermal vents as places for life to originate, I've
>> not read or heard anything about anyone paying particular attention to the
>> high pressures themselves being a factor -- just as the source of energy
>> and chemicals and gradients. I was specifically focusing on extremes of
>> pressure maybe having a decisive impact on the origin of life.)
>>
>>
>> Regards,
>>
>> Dan
>>
>> * That is, how biological life might arise from inorganic matter through
>> natural processes.
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>
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-- 
Stefano Vaj
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