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Assembling Life: How Can Life Begin on Earth and Other Habitable Planets?
In Assembling Life , David Deamer addresses questions that are the cutting edge of research on the origin of life. For instance, how did non-living organic compounds assemble into the first forms of primitive cellular life? What was the source of those compounds and the energy that produced the first nucleic acids? Did life begin in the ocean or in fresh water on terrestrial land masses? Could life have begun on Mars?
The book provides an overview of conditions on the early Earth four billion years ago and explains why fresh water hot springs are a plausible alternative to salty seawater as a site where life can begin. Deamer describes his studies of organic compounds that were likely to be available in the prebiotic environment and the volcanic conditions that can drive chemical evolution toward the origin of life. The book is not exclusively Earth-centric, but instead considers whether life could begin elsewhere in our solar system. Deamer does not propose how life did begin, because we can never know that with certainty. Instead, his goal is to understand how life can begin on any habitable planet, with Earth so far being the only known example.
The book provides an overview of conditions on the early Earth four billion years ago and explains why fresh water hot springs are a plausible alternative to salty seawater as a site where life can begin. Deamer describes his studies of organic compounds that were likely to be available in the prebiotic environment and the volcanic conditions that can drive chemical evolution toward the origin of life. The book is not exclusively Earth-centric, but instead considers whether life could begin elsewhere in our solar system. Deamer does not propose how life did begin, because we can never know that with certainty. Instead, his goal is to understand how life can begin on any habitable planet, with Earth so far being the only known example.
184 pages, Hardcover
Published January 8, 2019
9 people are currently reading
96 people want to read
About the author
David W. Deamer
22 books4 followersDavid Wilson Deamer (born April 21, 1939) is an American biologist and Research Professor of Biomolecular Engineering at the University of California, Santa Cruz. Deamer has made contributions to the field of membrane biophysics. His work led to a novel method of DNA sequencing and a more complete understanding of the role of membranes in the origin of life.
He was awarded a Guggenheim Fellowship in 1985, which supported research at the Australian National University in Canberra to investigate organic compounds in the Murchison meteorite. He served as the president of the International Society for the Study of the Origin of Life from 2013 to 2014.
He was awarded a Guggenheim Fellowship in 1985, which supported research at the Australian National University in Canberra to investigate organic compounds in the Murchison meteorite. He served as the president of the International Society for the Study of the Origin of Life from 2013 to 2014.
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
May 7, 2019
Deamer's beautiful book offers an alternative to Nick Lane's Vital question. Deamer does not attempt to discredit Lane's work. Instead, as he makes very clear throughout the book, he is a truth seeker. After reading both of his books, it seems clear to me that he would enjoy supporting work from any scientists who is trying to discover how life could begin on any planet, including Earth, since this question is still unanswered. Many scientists are competing to be the first to solve this mystery. What I love about Deamer (and I think this is true of Nick Lane as well), is that even with their careers to think about, what primarily drives their quest is a deep desire to understand the world and larger universe.
Personally, I don't think the clays that form in hydrothermal fields are as conducive to assembling life (proposed by Deamer) as deep hydrothermal vents are (proposed by Nick Lane), but the fact that so many scientists are working on the question of, "Where and how did first life emerge?" is extremely exciting.
Unlike the RNA world hypothesis, which has not yet been able to account for how cells would get a *continuous* supply of energy to continue to replicate and evolve over time, Deamer's hydrothermal fields hypothesis -- even if wrong -- is driven by the right kind of question. It seems overwhelmingly true that, when we do finally figure out how first life originated, it will have come from a place on early earth that had a continuous supply of free energy that could be used by the first protocells and cells to make fatty acids, protein channels, RNA and DNA.
Deamer thinks life might have gotten a foothold on volcanic islands, which push up out of the ocean and have craters, geysers, hot springs, and pools of warm water. Over time, volcanic islands get weathered by rain. That weathering causes them to seal cracks in the rocky crust and retain waters that turn the rock to clay. As the bodies of water are filled by rain fall or geyser activity and then drained as the water evaporates, lots of products (elements and molecules) are left behind in a very high concentration. This high concentration is key. In order for molecules to react with one another they must be forced into close proximity/high concentration, and heating them up speeds up a reaction. This is why, according to Deamer, hydrothermal fields are optimal for first life. They provide heat to lower activation energy, so reactions can occur, and they force products to be in very high concentrations so they have no choice but to come into contact with each other.
Hydrothermal fields are also optimal because they naturally make distilled water, which is ideal for assembling life. According to Deamer, trying to assemble life in a salty environment, such is the case with hydrothermal vents, would not allow the reactions to occur because cells cannot handle high salt concentrations.
Another important factor, when thinking about hydrothermal fields, is pH level. It is fairly certain that life needed an acidic environment in order to have enough energy to put together the molecules of life. Acid environments are rich in H+, which are charged ions. If you run a flow of negatively charged electrons through a wire, they make an electric current that can power your lamp, when plugged into the outlet. The same is true for funneling charged ions through the membrane in a cell (this is how all of the energy/ATP in your body is made) or when charged ions flow through a hydrothermal vent that bubbles up from the ocean floor (this is how Nick Lane and others suggest first life assembled). In Deamer's hydrothermal field hypothesis, the clays themselves hold a high concentration of charged ions. When fat exists in water, it naturally makes rings (cellular shapes). Deamer suggests that the high concentration of charged ions could be trapped in the cell-like fats in the hydro thermal fields, but only the fields that have high acid (which means a low pH level) coming into contact with fresh water (neutral pH) or with vent water (high pH).
Deamer explains the work he has been doing in the lab and out in nature. He was very happy to have gathered actual evidence to support his research. I will definitely keep following him because his ideas are intriguing.
Personally, I don't think the clays that form in hydrothermal fields are as conducive to assembling life (proposed by Deamer) as deep hydrothermal vents are (proposed by Nick Lane), but the fact that so many scientists are working on the question of, "Where and how did first life emerge?" is extremely exciting.
Unlike the RNA world hypothesis, which has not yet been able to account for how cells would get a *continuous* supply of energy to continue to replicate and evolve over time, Deamer's hydrothermal fields hypothesis -- even if wrong -- is driven by the right kind of question. It seems overwhelmingly true that, when we do finally figure out how first life originated, it will have come from a place on early earth that had a continuous supply of free energy that could be used by the first protocells and cells to make fatty acids, protein channels, RNA and DNA.
Deamer thinks life might have gotten a foothold on volcanic islands, which push up out of the ocean and have craters, geysers, hot springs, and pools of warm water. Over time, volcanic islands get weathered by rain. That weathering causes them to seal cracks in the rocky crust and retain waters that turn the rock to clay. As the bodies of water are filled by rain fall or geyser activity and then drained as the water evaporates, lots of products (elements and molecules) are left behind in a very high concentration. This high concentration is key. In order for molecules to react with one another they must be forced into close proximity/high concentration, and heating them up speeds up a reaction. This is why, according to Deamer, hydrothermal fields are optimal for first life. They provide heat to lower activation energy, so reactions can occur, and they force products to be in very high concentrations so they have no choice but to come into contact with each other.
Hydrothermal fields are also optimal because they naturally make distilled water, which is ideal for assembling life. According to Deamer, trying to assemble life in a salty environment, such is the case with hydrothermal vents, would not allow the reactions to occur because cells cannot handle high salt concentrations.
Another important factor, when thinking about hydrothermal fields, is pH level. It is fairly certain that life needed an acidic environment in order to have enough energy to put together the molecules of life. Acid environments are rich in H+, which are charged ions. If you run a flow of negatively charged electrons through a wire, they make an electric current that can power your lamp, when plugged into the outlet. The same is true for funneling charged ions through the membrane in a cell (this is how all of the energy/ATP in your body is made) or when charged ions flow through a hydrothermal vent that bubbles up from the ocean floor (this is how Nick Lane and others suggest first life assembled). In Deamer's hydrothermal field hypothesis, the clays themselves hold a high concentration of charged ions. When fat exists in water, it naturally makes rings (cellular shapes). Deamer suggests that the high concentration of charged ions could be trapped in the cell-like fats in the hydro thermal fields, but only the fields that have high acid (which means a low pH level) coming into contact with fresh water (neutral pH) or with vent water (high pH).
Deamer explains the work he has been doing in the lab and out in nature. He was very happy to have gathered actual evidence to support his research. I will definitely keep following him because his ideas are intriguing.
January 13, 2020
If you are looking for an objective review of the overall origins-of-life (OOL) field, this is not the book for it. Deamer mentions hydrothermal vent research, but his focus is on hydrothermal fields (geysers and hot springs), where cyclic drying and wetting is the main driving influence. If you are looking for a complete theory of OOL, again this is not the book, nor is any. Deamer says repeatedly that much of his scenario is conjecture, and he identifies major gaps in it that need to be filled. But he shows much relevant research, and his conjectures are plausible and cover more area than I have seen from other OOL books. The book is aimed at the interested layperson and largely succeeds, but understanding of basic organic chemistry is close to essential for following parts of it.
September 13, 2021
This book discusses the properties of saltwater and freshwater hydrothermal vents and the possibility that life arose at those places. It is by no means a comprehensive history of the research on the origin of life, but a focused overview of a couple of promising possibilities.
The author's restraint is admirable as he doesn't attempt to sell his own hypothesis, he covers both sides of the argument and presents a quality image of what real scientific method is.
The book is, as it should be, full of chemistry, making it an unappealing read for a general audience, but anyone who is somewhat familiar with the field should be able to digest the main points, which are liberally repeated for clarity.
The author's restraint is admirable as he doesn't attempt to sell his own hypothesis, he covers both sides of the argument and presents a quality image of what real scientific method is.
The book is, as it should be, full of chemistry, making it an unappealing read for a general audience, but anyone who is somewhat familiar with the field should be able to digest the main points, which are liberally repeated for clarity.
June 14, 2020
Biochemistry is my new "particle physics" passion, I am en route to achieve the same level of comfort that I have re particle physics.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews