| RESEARCH |
Borates stabilize ribose For the "RNA world" hypothesis of the origins of life to be true, RNA must have been synthesized prebiotically. Ribose--the sugar in RNA--and other pentoses can be made from the precursors formaldehyde and glycolaldehyde, which are known to exist in interstellar space and presumably would have been available on early Earth. Using these precursors, pentoses can be formed under alkaline conditions. However, the pentoses under those conditions rapidly decompose to polymeric mixtures of brown tar. A team led by University of Florida chemistry professor Steven A. Benner shows that borate minerals help stabilize ribose synthesized under alkaline conditions [Science, 303, 196 (2004)]. In the absence of borate, a mixture of pentoses, including ribose, turns brown and degrades after an hour of incubation. When the mixture is incubated in the presence of borate minerals, the solution doesn't degrade over an extended period. Borate minerals were probably also available on early Earth. The authors argue that their results help support--or at least don't exclude--prebiotic formation of ribose. |
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