Supernovae and the chirality of the amino acids

Astrobiology
R N BoydT Onaka

Abstract

A mechanism for creating amino acid enantiomerism that always selects the same large-scale chirality is identified, and subsequent chemical replication and galactic mixing that would populate the Galaxy with the predominant species is described. This involves (1) the spin of the 14N in the amino acids, or in precursor molecules from which amino acids might be formed, that couples to the chirality of the molecules; (2) the neutrinos emitted from the supernova, together with the magnetic field from the nascent neutron star or black hole formed from the supernova, which selectively destroy one orientation of the 14N and thus select the chirality associated with the other 14N orientation; (3) chemical evolution, by which the molecules replicate and evolve to more complex forms of a single chirality on a relatively short timescale; and (4) galactic mixing on a longer timescale that mixes the selected molecules throughout the Galaxy.

References

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Citations

Jul 22, 2011·Astrobiology·Lewis R Dartnell
Jul 13, 2011·International Journal of Molecular Sciences·Richard N BoydTakashi Onaka
Sep 12, 2012·Chirality·John E Bartmess, Richard M Pagni

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Methods Mentioned

BETA
nuclear magnetic resonance

Software Mentioned

DeclareMathSizes

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