Spontaneous Order and the Origin of Life (Origins) – Sept. 2021 (5 years after Smith’s book publication) - by Steven Bratman (Author) -- 4.5 out of 5 stars 23 ratings -- Part of: Origins (2 books)
Book description
"This is a serious, excellent piece of science writing ... Bratman's prose captures the core idea and gives a faithful rendering for a non-specialist audience" - Eric Smith, PhD. Coauthor of The Origin and Nature of Life: The Emergence of the Fourth Geosphere.
Metabolism-First is a theory that claims life arose out of energy-driven organic chemistry in ancient hydrothermal vents. From this perspective, life is not a lucky accident but a logical consequence of early Earth conditions. Like many other processes driven by a flow of energy, the origin of life exemplifies the phenomena of spontaneous order.
The process by which a minute area of ionized atmosphere leads to accelerating ionization can be regarded as a form of autocatalysis. An autocatalyst (broadly speaking) is something that creates more of itself. Fire is another example. The term, however, was invented to describe processes in chemistry. In Metabolism-First theory, chemical autocatalysis was a primary process initiating biosphere formation.
The story goes like this: Electrons in upwelling magma reside at a higher energy level than those in the oceanic fluids that magma encounters. This yields an energy differential that, like the electrons in a thundercloud, has no efficient means of resolution. A small quantity of electrons would nonetheless flow downhill through ambient geochemistry. It is a peculiarity of the non-oxygenated vent environment that downhill electron flow favors the formation of molecules containing multiple carbons. (In the modern, oxygenated environment, such “anabolism” requires energy, but that was not originally the case.) As the initial, limited electron flow elaborated a variety of organic chemicals, autocatalytic reaction pathways arose.
An autocatalytic chemical reaction pathway is one where chemical products of that pathway enhance the rate of reactions that produce them. This positive feedback effect channels an exponentially increasing total flow of energy and matter through the autocatalytic network.
As chemical synthesis driven by electron energy increased, random chemistry led to the discovery” of new and more efficient autocatalysts. These “better” autocatalysts would “outcompete” less efficient ones, yielding a form of natural selection in mere chemistry. Eventually, stable, cyclic forms of autocatalysis arose, and this was the recognizable beginning of the biosphere.
This was well explained
Beautiful article Yago! Thoroughly enjoyed reading and learning about metabolism
Ah, thank you! I hope you'll enjoy the full series!
Read two Prof. Nick Lane books -- The Transformer (on metabolism) and The Vital Question (on origin of life and the emergence of eukaryotes)
Nick Lane – Short links:
Electricity creates consciousness | Nick Lane -- https://youtu.be/ZFIkiVK8cjw?si=2rGndIJwjC4BOhfO
Why do bacteria sacrifice themselves? | Nick Lane https://youtube.com/shorts/FKchJQkBaSc?si=H8WbkUnqxhs6PfCX
Are our mitochondria conscious? | Nick Lane
https://youtube.com/shorts/cZ1vjO68_tY?si=210OHHs--6lVJHo9
Once again -- a highly recommended book :
Spontaneous Order and the Origin of Life (Origins) – Sept. 2021 (5 years after Smith’s book publication) - by Steven Bratman (Author) -- 4.5 out of 5 stars 23 ratings -- Part of: Origins (2 books)
Book description
"This is a serious, excellent piece of science writing ... Bratman's prose captures the core idea and gives a faithful rendering for a non-specialist audience" - Eric Smith, PhD. Coauthor of The Origin and Nature of Life: The Emergence of the Fourth Geosphere.
Metabolism-First is a theory that claims life arose out of energy-driven organic chemistry in ancient hydrothermal vents. From this perspective, life is not a lucky accident but a logical consequence of early Earth conditions. Like many other processes driven by a flow of energy, the origin of life exemplifies the phenomena of spontaneous order.
The process by which a minute area of ionized atmosphere leads to accelerating ionization can be regarded as a form of autocatalysis. An autocatalyst (broadly speaking) is something that creates more of itself. Fire is another example. The term, however, was invented to describe processes in chemistry. In Metabolism-First theory, chemical autocatalysis was a primary process initiating biosphere formation.
The story goes like this: Electrons in upwelling magma reside at a higher energy level than those in the oceanic fluids that magma encounters. This yields an energy differential that, like the electrons in a thundercloud, has no efficient means of resolution. A small quantity of electrons would nonetheless flow downhill through ambient geochemistry. It is a peculiarity of the non-oxygenated vent environment that downhill electron flow favors the formation of molecules containing multiple carbons. (In the modern, oxygenated environment, such “anabolism” requires energy, but that was not originally the case.) As the initial, limited electron flow elaborated a variety of organic chemicals, autocatalytic reaction pathways arose.
An autocatalytic chemical reaction pathway is one where chemical products of that pathway enhance the rate of reactions that produce them. This positive feedback effect channels an exponentially increasing total flow of energy and matter through the autocatalytic network.
As chemical synthesis driven by electron energy increased, random chemistry led to the discovery” of new and more efficient autocatalysts. These “better” autocatalysts would “outcompete” less efficient ones, yielding a form of natural selection in mere chemistry. Eventually, stable, cyclic forms of autocatalysis arose, and this was the recognizable beginning of the biosphere.