Oil/Water Interfaces and the Origin of Life.

Abstract

Liquid-liquid interfaces have not previously been considered in terms of their possible relationship to the origin of life. However, it is clear that the first living cells necessarily utilized lipid-like hydrocarbon derivatives as component of their functioning membrane structure. Such hydrocarbons were presumably available on the primitive Earth, and would have taken the form of oil-water interfaces in early lakes and oceans. What was the primary source and chemical nature of such compounds? Did the chemical and physical properties of oil-water interfaces contribute to mechanisms by which energy could be captured from the environment? And how did hydrocarbons chemically evolve into amphiphilic compounds that could self-assemble into the first membranous structures? Although there are no simple answers to these questions, progress in prebiotic chemistry has recently pointed to some useful research directions. We will first describe current advances in our knowledge of the early Earth environment, particularly as related to non-polar and amphiphilic organic compounds that were potentially available to participate in the chemical evolution leading to the first forms of life.