Revealing the Mystery of the 20 Amino Acids That Form Life

It is known that life on Earth was born 3.8 billion years ago, but how life was born from the primitive Earth is a big topic in science. A research team including Charles University in Prague in the Czech Republic and Johns Hopkins University in the United States investigated how proteins that form life were synthesized on the primitive Earth. It is a mystery why 20 amino acids, which are the building blocks of proteins, were selected and how amino acid combinations affected subsequent life. some have been revealed

Of the total amino acids, 22 types of proteins are composed of 21 types of eukaryotes, and many animals including humans consist of 20 types of amino acids. If we compare amino acids to letters, we can say that proteins are words that can rearrange letters, and life is a sentence composed of combining words.

All life on Earth is composed of 20 amino acid combinations that are common to humans, bacteria and archaea. These amino acids are believed to consist of 10 early amino acids selected from the primitive earth’s atmosphere or meteorite fragments, and 10 late amino acids added later. However, it is unclear why only 20 amino acids were selected from over 500 amino acids that exist in nature.

Therefore, the research team reproduced various amino acid combinations that were abundant on Earth before the birth of life in the laboratory and experimented with imitating primitive protein synthesis. Experimental results showed that ancient organic compounds selected and incorporated amino acids that were optimal for protein folding. Protein shape and folding are important for protein function because they determine how they interact with other molecules and their surroundings. The research team believes that the components were chosen because the late 10 amino acids added later are superior at performing protein functions.

In other words, it can be said that evolution or natural selection was in progress at the stage of protein synthesis, and that the most suitable amino acid was selected. Darwinian evolution requires a sophisticated method to convert genetic molecules such as DNA or RNA into proteins, and revealed that nature could select components with useful properties before Darwinian evolution. said he was doing it. He added that evolution was possible before biology and natural selection of chemicals useful for life was possible before DNA was formed.

This research suggests not only the origin of life on Earth, but also the possibility of life on other planets. The universe can like amino acids. Even if life was found on other planets, it might not be very different from Earth, he says. Related information this placecan be found in