Epistemology
Introduction E9F5FC Questions FFFFC0 Software |
What is sulfur's role, if any, in the origin of life? Wikipedia: Sulfur Amino acids (two proteinogenic: cysteine and methionine, and many other non-coded: cystine, taurine, etc.) and two vitamins (biotin and thiamine) are organosulfur compounds crucial for life. Many cofactors also contain sulfur, including glutathione, and iron–sulfur proteins. Disulfides, S–S bonds, confer mechanical strength and insolubility of the (among others) protein keratin, found in outer skin, hair, and feathers. Wikipedia: Organosulfur chemistry Wikipedia: Iron-sulfur world hypothesis The carbon fixation metabolism became autocatalytic by forming a metabolic cycle in the form of a primitive sulfur-dependent version of the reductive citric acid cycle. Goldford et al. Environmental boundary conditions for the origin of life converge to an organo-sulfur metabolism. Our analysis of possible trajectories indicates that a subset of boundary conditions converges to an organo-sulfur-based proto-metabolic network fuelled by a thioester- and redox-driven variant of the reductive tricarboxylic acid cycle that is capable of producing lipids and keto acids. Sulfur molecules from space may have seeded early life on Earth Sulfur-containing organic molecules, called alkylsulfonic acids, can form naturally in space without the presence of life and were delivered to Earth by comets and asteroids. |