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New scientific hypothesis places mineral nanoparticles at the center of the origin of life and suggests that catalysis, light, heat, electricity, and natural cycles of primitive Earth may have helped transform inert substances into the first biological building blocks, still surrounded by doubts.
Mineral nanoenzymes may have helped explain how life began on Earth by transforming gases and inert substances into complex molecules through catalysis, natural energy, and reactions of primitive chemistry.
New hypothesis attempts to explain the origin of life
The proposal was presented by Professor Yongdong Jin from Shenzhen University in China and places mineral nanoenzymes at the center of the early stages of chemical evolution.
The idea tackles one of science’s most difficult questions: how non-living materials present on primitive Earth gave rise to the first biological components. The complete process cannot be directly observed and is difficult to recreate.
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Models such as the FeS world, zinc, thioester, RNA, and lipids have contributed to the debate, but none have integrated all aspects into a unified scenario.
How life began on Earth, according to nanoenzymes
The hypothesis suggests that natural mineral particles, called MN-enzymes, acted as catalysts and energy processors. They would have converted gases and inert compounds into complex molecules in gradual steps.
This process is described as “inorganic photosynthesis.” In it, light, heat, and electricity could drive chemical reactions under primitive conditions.
The MN-enzymes would also have functions of binding and confinement on surfaces, resistance to ultraviolet radiation, selection by physical and chemical processes, and energy flow management.
With these functions, the nanoparticles could have favored molecules capable of storing molecular information, being read, written, and duplicated. These capabilities are pointed out as requirements for the emergence of living systems.
Earth would have functioned as a natural laboratory
The hypothesis views the primitive Earth as a long-term chemical laboratory. Pressure and temperature gradients, from the mantle to the crust, would have created favorable environments near active volcanoes and hot springs.
In these locations, high-temperature and pressure reactions, along with hydrothermal processes, could have formed the first MN-enzymes, including metal nanoparticles, noble metals, metal oxides, and sulfides.
Over billions of years, these MN-enzymes could have renewed, evolved, and become more sophisticated. Some, according to the hypothesis, may have been incorporated into living organisms.
Mineral particles already circulate around the Earth
A point that supports the plausibility of the proposal is the current abundance of mineral nanoparticles. Every year, thousands of teragrams circulate through natural ecosystems.
They are in oceans, waters, atmosphere, and soils, where they participate in biogeochemical cycles. Some of these particles exhibit enzyme-like activity and are classified as MN-enzyme.
Recent research indicates that nature can produce this material more easily than previously thought, including in charged water microdroplets or under UV radiation.
Sunlight and lightning could also provide photocatalytic and electrocatalytic conditions to produce primitive nanoenzymes on a large scale, as well as prebiotic molecules on the Earth’s surface.
The “gold world” and the next questions
The hypothesis includes the “gold world,” centered on gold nanoparticles protected by a monolayer. They could have been effective nanoenzymes under certain natural conditions on Earth.
The model also points to four essential factors for selecting and stabilizing life’s molecules: cycles of moisture and dryness, self-assembly, catalytic activity, and pair symbiosis.
Even so, the proposal does not solve the mystery. It attempts to offer a broader framework to compare competing theories and guide new research on how life began on Earth.
The topic remains open because the complete sequence of events cannot be observed directly. For readers, the question remains: does this hypothesis bring science closer to a more complete explanation for the origin of life or just open a new path of investigation? Leave your opinion in the comments.
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