Microsphere
Microspheres , protein protocells or enveloped coacervates are small, spherical molecular aggregates that some scientists consider to be an important step in the development of life .
In 1953, Stanley Miller and Harold Clayton Urey demonstrated in the so-called Miller-Urey experiment that many simple biomolecules could arise spontaneously from precursors of these compounds (biomolecules) under laboratory conditions that were modeled on the earth before the evolution of life. Of particular interest was the considerable yield of amino acids , since amino acids are the cornerstones of proteins .
In 1957 Sidney W. Fox demonstrated that amino acids could be made to combine with one another, i.e. to polymerize, when heated at the same time. These proteinoids formed spherical hollow bodies. Membrane-like envelopes formed around the coacervates as a result of self-aggregation , and microspheres (coacervates with envelope) formed. Under suitable conditions, microspheres form new microspheres on their surface. Although they resemble cells in their appearance, they are not living systems because they cannot reproduce exactly and cannot contain and pass on genetic material . However, they were probably important for the development of life insofar as they provided a membrane-enclosed volume that could possibly develop in preforms of a cell via hypercycles .
See also
Viroids are circular RNA units that can reproduce themselves in a suitable environment.
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ http://www.biokurs.de/skripten/11n/bs11-9n.htm ( page no longer available , search in web archives ) Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
