Did life begin on a radioactive beach?
* 12 January 2008
* Lewis Dartnell
* Magazine issue 2638
DID life on Earth begin on a radioactive beach? That's the claim of one astrobiologist, who says that life's ingredients could have emerged from the radioactive sand grains of a primordial beach laced with heavy metals and pounded by powerful tides.
Any origin of life theory needs to explain how the building blocks of cells - such as amino acids and sugars - assembled into complex molecules, and how certain elements came to be incorporated. Though radiation might seem an unlikely source to kick-start such processes because it breaks chemical bonds and shatters large molecules, including DNA, it can provide the chemical energy needed to produce life's building blocks.
Natural "nuclear reactors" were active in the past, such as the uranium ore seam in Oklo, Gabon, which regulated the fission of uranium in a similar way to nuclear-powered submarines (New Scientist, 6 November 2004, p 12). However, conditions at ...
The complete article is 612 words long.
To continue reading this article, subscribe to New Scientist.
Get 4 issues of New Scientist magazine and instant access to all online content for only GBP £2.95