Abstract

ZAIA, Dimas A. M.  and  ZAIA, Cássia Thaïs B. V.. Adsorption of amino acids on minerals and the origin of life. Quím. Nova [online]. 2006, vol.29, n.4, pp. 786-789. ISSN 0100-4042.  http://dx.doi.org/10.1590/S0100-40422006000400027.

Minerals adsorb more readily amino acids with charged R groups than those with uncharged R groups, so that the incorporation of amino acids with charged R groups into peptides would be more frequent than that of amino acids with uncharged R groups. However, 74% of the amino acids in the proteins of modern organisms contain uncharged R groups. Thus, what could have been the mechanism that produced peptides/proteins with more amino acids with uncharged R groups than precursors with charged R groups? The lipid world offers an alternative view of the origin of life. In the present paper, several other mechanisms are also discussed.

Keywords : adsorption; minerals; amino acids.