Scientists from the Institute of Organic Chemistry of the Polish Academy of Sciences (IChO PAN) presented a “chemical tree of the origins of life” showing how, billions of years ago, simple chemical compounds could create the molecules necessary to initiate life on Earth. The researchers published the finding in the scientific journal Science.
So far, the scientists had single pieces of information about on the relationships and combined conditions, necessary to create new compounds that could be involved in the formation of life on Earth.
The scientific team of Prof. Bartosz Grzybowski and Dr Sara Szymkuć from the IChO PAN developed the Allchemy computer program. It allows to simulate chemical reactions taking place under specific conditions, starting from the substrates specified by the users.
Scientists Agnieszka Wołos, Rafał Roszak and Anna Żądło-Dobrowolska, with the Allchemy program, systematized the knowledge of chemical reactions possible on the prebiotic Earth, which led to the formation of molecules important for life. Using the algorithm, they found new paths for the synthesis of biotic compounds, unknown to science. Then the results of the selected simulations were confirmed experimentally.
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