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Chemistry of life in outer space is topic of two-day symposium, April 4-5

SAN DIEGO - A two-day symposium at the 221st national meeting of the American Chemical Society, the world's largest scientific society, will explore the current hypothesis that the chemical precursors of life originated in outer space, not on Earth as previously thought.

The famous Miller-Urey experiments of the 1950s assumed that early Earth was replete with water and atmospheric gases such as hydrogen, methane and ammonia, much as Jupiter is today. Scientists now suspect, however, that early Earth lacked these favorable conditions - making the "primordial soup" much harder to cook.

Instead, researchers are investigating the likelihood that meteorites and dust from comets and asteroids brought water, gases and even organic compounds such as amino acids to Earth. These extraterrestrial hitchhikers may have "seeded" Earth and played a role in the origin of life on our planet.

Highlights of the symposium include:

Biochemistry of interstellar ices - Max Bernstein, Ph.D., of NASA's Ames Research Center, will discuss the effects of ultraviolet light and cosmic rays on ices found between the stars in space. He also will discuss the formation of quinones, compounds essential to life on Earth, in outer space. (The paper on this research, GEOC 144, will be presented at 1:35 p.m., Wednesday, April 4, in the U.S. Grant hotel, Crystal room.)

Effect of UV radiation on amino acids - Pascale Ehrenfreund, Ph.D., of the Leiden Observatory in the Netherlands, has found that amino acids degrade readily when exposed to ultraviolet radiation. This places constraints on the number of amino acids that can survive in some regions of space. (The paper on this research, GEOC 146, will be presented at 2:15 p.m., Wednesday, April 4, in the U.S. Grant hotel, Crystal room.)

New insight into the Tagish Lake meteorite - Sandra Pizzarello, Ph.D., of Arizona State University, has analyzed the Tagish Lake meteorite's organic content and will present her findings. The meteorite, which was recovered from an icy Canadian lake in January 2000, is one of the rarest and most primitive meteorites ever examined by researchers. (The paper on this research, GEOC 148, will be presented at 3:20 p.m., Wednesday, April 4, in the U.S. Grant hotel, Crystal room.)

Surviving entry into Earth's atmosphere - Vladimir Basiuk, Ph.D., of the National Autonomous University of Mexico, and his colleagues found that one to 10 percent of simple biomolecules remain stable when exposed to high temperatures. These findings support the hypothesis that amino and nucleic acids could enter Earth's atmosphere and survive in amounts sufficient for life to emerge. (The paper on this research, GEOC 169, will be presented at 9:50 a.m., Thursday, April 5, in the U.S. Grant hotel, Grand Ballroom D.)

Effect of meteorite impacts - Seiji Sugita, Ph.D., of the University of Tokyo, says the intense chemical reactions found in vapor clouds after a meteorite impact may yield the large amount of organic matter needed to form amino and nucleic acids. (The paper on this research, GEOC 170, will be presented at 10:30 a.m., Thursday, April 5, in the U.S. Grant hotel, Grand Ballroom D.)

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