Recent Advances in Origins of Life Research by Biophysicists in Japan

Yutetsu Kuruma,Tony Z. Jia

doi:10.3390/challe10010028

Abstract

Biophysics research tends to focus on utilizing multidisciplinary technologies and interdisciplinary collaborations to study biological phenomena through the lens of chemistry and physics. Although most current biophysics work is focused on studying extant biology, the fact remains that modern biological systems at some point were descended from a universal common ancestor. At the core of modern biology is the important question of how the earliest life on (or off) Earth emerged. Recent technological and methodological advances developed by biophysicists in Japan have allowed researchers to gain a new suite of knowledge related to the origins of life (OoL). Using these reports as inspiration, here, we highlight some of the significant OoL advances contributed by members of the biophysical research field in Japan with respect to the synthesis and assembly of biological (or pre-biological) components on early Earth, the co-assembly of primitive compartments with biopolymer systems, and the evolution of early genetic systems. We hope to provide inspiration to other biophysicists to not only use the always-advancing suite of available multidisciplinary technologies to continue their own line of work, but to also consider how their work or techniques can contribute to the ever-growing field of OoL research.

Highlights

The origins and evolution of life is one of the biggest mysteries in modern science
During the outset of origins of life (OoL) research starting in the 1950s, researchers mostly focused on chemical approaches to find out what organic molecules could be created in prebiotic environments, such as in meteorites [4,5] or from atmospheric discharge experiments [6,7,8], through chemical analyses of simulated prebiotic environments or real samples
Recent advances in high speed atomic force microscopy (AFM) made by the Nano Life Science Institute at Kanazawa University allow high time-scale resolution studies of the dynamics of amyloid peptide fibers [21] [53], while mechanisms of amyloid peptide fiber hydrolysis by short peptides have been discovered by researchers at Kobe University [54,55]

Summary

Introduction

The origins and evolution of life (both on Earth and off of Earth) is one of the biggest mysteries in modern science. Recent advances in high speed atomic force microscopy (AFM) made by the Nano Life Science Institute at Kanazawa University allow high time-scale resolution studies of the dynamics of amyloid peptide fibers [21] (and other prebiotic self-assembling peptide fibers) [53], while mechanisms of amyloid peptide fiber hydrolysis by short peptides have been discovered by researchers at Kobe University [54,55] These amyloid peptide fiber hydrolysis studies are mainly applicable to clinical treatment research of Alzheimer’s patients, understanding how short peptides can catalyze the assembly, transition, and/or disassembly of any biochemical or biopolymer structure would shed light on how short peptides could have contributed to the regulation of prebiotic chemical reactions that eventually led to the first biochemical regulatory interactions on early Earth. The lessons and principles gleaned from these and other non-prebiotic systems can and should be applied towards furthering our understanding of the emergence of the first biomolecules

Assembly and Co-Assembly of Primitive Compartments

Phospholipid

Example

Primitive Biopolymer Evolution

Replication

The Future of OoL Research

Methods