Looking for the origin of life in cosmochemistry: Asteroids and their carbon-rich meteorites

Authors

  • Sandra Pizzarello Arizona State University (USA).

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.7203/metode.6.5000

Keywords:

Biogenic elements, carbonaceous meteorites, chemical evolution, chirality, chembiogenesis

Abstract

Carbonaceous chondrite meteorites are carbon-containing fragments of primitive asteroids that have offered the only samples available to date giving insights into chemical evolution in laboratory analyses. Their study has revealed that abundant organic chemistry came to be in the Solar System ahead of terrestrial life and, by the input of these meteorites and comets, might have aided in the origin of our planet’s biochemistry.

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Author Biography

Sandra Pizzarello, Arizona State University (USA).

Professor and Research Professor at the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry of the Arizona State University (USA). Her research spanning over thirty years has been devoted to the study of organic materials in carbonaceous chondrite meteorites, with an emphasis on the molecular, isotopic, and chiral characterization of their soluble compounds. More recently, she has focused on the study of non-racemic amino acids from meteorites. She has published in journals including Science and PNAS , among others.  

References

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Lerman, L. (2010). The primordial bubble: Water, symmetry breaking, and the origin of life. In R. M. Lyndell-Bell, S. C. Morris, D. Barrow, J. L. Finney, & C. Harper. (Eds.), Water and life: The unique properties of H2O (pp. 259–290). Boca Raton: CRC Press.

Pizzarello, S., Cooper, G. W., & Flynn, G. J. (2006). The nature and distribution of the organic material in carbonaceous chondrites and interplanetary dust particles. In D. Lauretta, & H. Y. McSween Jr (Eds.), Meteorites and the Early Solar System II (pp. 625–651). Tucson: University of Arizona Press.

Pizzarello, S., & Groy, T. L. (2011). Molecular asymmetry in extraterrestrial organic chemistry: An analytical perspective. Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta, 75, 645–656. doi: 10.1016/j.gca.2010.10.025

Pizzarello, S., Williams, L. B., Lehman, J., Holland, G. P., & Yarger, J. L. (2011). Abundant ammonia in primitive asteroids and the case for a possible exobiology. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 108, 4303–4306. doi: 10.1073/pnas.1014961108

Schmitt-Kopplin, P., Gabelica, Z., Gougeon, R. D., Fekete, A., Kanawati, B., Harir, M., … Hertkorn, N. (2010). High molecular diversity of extraterrestrial organic matter in Murchison meteorite revealed 40 years after its fall. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 107, 2763–2768. doi: 10.1073/pnas.0912157107

Von Kiedrowski, G. (Org.). (2005, September 28–October 1). Chembiogenesis: Prebiotic chemistry and early evolution. ECLT: Venice International University. Retrieved from http://www.istpace.org/Web_Final_Report/scientific_meetings_at_eclt/workshops/second_year_april_2005_marc/prebiotic_chemistry_and_ear.html

Wood, J. A., & Chang, S. (Eds.). (1985). The cosmic history of the biogenic elements and compounds. Washington, DC: Scientific and Technical Information Branch, National Aeronautics and Space Administration Publisher.

Yabuta, H., Williams, L. B., Cody, G. D., Alexander, C. M. O’D., & Pizzarello, S. (2007). The insoluble carbonaceous material of CM chondrites: A possible source of discrete organic compounds under hydrothermal conditions. Meteoritics & Planetary Science, 42, 37–48. doi: 10.1111/j.1945-5100.2007.tb00216.x

Zolensky, M. E., Mittlefehldt, D. W., Lipschutz, M. E., Wang, M.-S., Clayton, R. N., Mayeda, T. K., … Barber, D. (1997). CM chondrites exhibit the complete petrologic range from type 2 to 1. Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta, 61, 5099–5115. doi: 10.1016/S0016-7037(97)00357-8

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Published

2016-04-15

How to Cite

Pizzarello, S. (2016). Looking for the origin of life in cosmochemistry: Asteroids and their carbon-rich meteorites. Metode Science Studies Journal, (6), 161–165. https://doi.org/10.7203/metode.6.5000
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Issue

Science grid: The public understanding of science (2016)

Section

On the origin of life. An incomplete scientific story

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