Volcanism, prebiotic molecules

Sidney Fox and Kaoru Harada, in particular, used simulation experiments to show how volcanism may have been involved in the synthesis of prebiotic molecules. They heated a stream of gas (CH4, NH3 and H2O) to about 1,123 K (using a silicate contact) after cooling, they could detect glycine, alanine, p-alanine and aspartic acid (among others). This experiment was intended to simulate exhalation from the earth s crust, as in volcanoes (Fox and Harada, 1961 Harada and Fox, 1964). 

Simplicity of structure and ease of formation makes it reasonable to infer that polyP and PHB were components of early cells, possibly preceding RNA. PolyPs are prebiotic molecules, formed by condensation of phosphates in volcanic condensates and thermal vents at the bottom of the ocean.2,34,146 The synthesis of PHB is more demanding but requires only acetate and a reducing agent (see Figure 2B), both available in the primordial milieu. The conservation of these rudimentary homopoly-... 

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