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Résumé |
By reconciling previously conflicting views about the origin of life - in which one or other cellular subsystem
precedes, and then ‘invents’ the others - a new modus operandi for its study is suggested. Guided by this, a
cyanosulfidic protometabolism is uncovered which uses UV light and the stoichiometric reducing power of
hydrogen sulfide to convert hydrogen cyanide, and a couple of other prebiotic feedstock molecules which can
be derived therefrom, into nucleic acid, peptide and lipid building blocks. Geochemical scenarios consistent
with this protometabolism are outlined. Finally, the transition of a system from the inanimate to the animate
state is considered in the context of there being intermediate stages of partial ‘aliveness’.
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