Liquid crystal phases of tiny DNA molecules point up new scenario for first life on Earth


	Liquid crystal phases of tiny DNA molecules point up new scenario for first life on Earth

Djiezes

11-24-2007 2:37 PM

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tags:

life, dna, origin, soup, rna, science, biology, chemistry, helix

2 Comments |

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11-25-2007 1:04 AM

rmowery

This will prove an interesting theory. Does it mean that our entire species on this planet could have been derived from DNA/RNA sent here from space via crystals?

11-25-2007 11:38 AM

syncopath

in the beginning there was ..... ?!? ......

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<div style="margin: 12px 0px; font-family: arial; color: #333333; background: #ffffff; border: solid 4px #e5e5e5; width: 100%; clear: left;"><div class="CM_CTB_Content_Wrap" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;background-color: #ffffff;"><div style="border-bottom: solid 1px #dcdcdc; white-space: nowrap; margin-bottom: 8px; background-color: #eeeeee ;background-image: url(http://clipmarks.com/images/source-bg.gif); background-repeat: repeat-x; height: 24px; line-height: 24px; vertical-align: middle; padding-bottom: 4px; color: #666666; font-size: 10px;" ><a href="http://clipmarks.com/clip-to-blog/" title="see clips that are hot right now"><img src="http://content.clipmarks.com/blog_embed/82ccbcca-ad7d-4b1e-bfcd-0e71ff6bf19c/46257E95-8102-4646-98EC-E91771721614/" alt="" width="19" height="19" border="0" style="vertical-align: middle; margin: 0px 4px; display: inline; border: none; float:none;" /></a>clipped from <a title="http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2007-11/uoca-lcp112007.php" href="http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2007-11/uoca-lcp112007.php" style="font-size: 11px;">www.eurekalert.org</a></div><blockquote style="text-align: left; padding: 0px 8px; margin: 4px 0px 8px 0px; background: transparent; border: none;" cite="http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2007-11/uoca-lcp112007.php"><H1 class="title">Liquid crystal phases of tiny DNA molecules point up new scenario for first life on Earth</H1></blockquote><div style="height: 2px; font-size: 2px; background: #dcdcdc; border-bottom: solid 1px #f5f5f5; margin: 2px 4px;"></div><blockquote style="text-align: left; padding: 0px 8px; margin: 4px 0px 8px 0px; background: transparent; border: none;" cite="http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2007-11/uoca-lcp112007.php"><div align="center"><img src="http://content9.clipmarks.com/blog_cache/www.eurekalert.org/img/961C31E6-4299-4AA3-BF41-6B7106448A6D" alt="" /></div></blockquote><div style="height: 2px; font-size: 2px; background: #dcdcdc; border-bottom: solid 1px #f5f5f5; margin: 2px 4px;"></div><blockquote style="text-align: left; padding: 0px 8px; margin: 4px 0px 8px 0px; background: transparent; border: none;" cite="http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2007-11/uoca-lcp112007.php"><P>A team led by the University of Colorado at Boulder and the University of Milan has discovered some unexpected forms of liquid crystals of ultrashort DNA molecules immersed in water, providing a new scenario for a key step in the emergence of life on Earth. </P></blockquote><div style="height: 2px; font-size: 2px; background: #dcdcdc; border-bottom: solid 1px #f5f5f5; margin: 2px 4px;"></div><blockquote style="text-align: left; padding: 0px 8px; margin: 4px 0px 8px 0px; background: transparent; border: none;" cite="http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2007-11/uoca-lcp112007.php">short segments of DNA, life’s molecular carrier of genetic information, could assemble into several distinct liquid crystal phases that “self-orient” parallel to one another and stack into columns when placed in a water solution.</blockquote><div style="height: 2px; font-size: 2px; background: #dcdcdc; border-bottom: solid 1px #f5f5f5; margin: 2px 4px;"></div><blockquote style="text-align: left; padding: 0px 8px; margin: 4px 0px 8px 0px; background: transparent; border: none;" cite="http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2007-11/uoca-lcp112007.php"><P>“In essence, the liquid crystal phase condensation selects the appropriate molecular components, and with the right chemistry would evolve larger molecules tuned to stabilize the liquid crystal phase.  If this is correct, the linear polymer shape of DNA itself is a vestige of formation by liquid crystal order.”</P></blockquote></div><div style="margin: 0px 6px 6px 4px;"><table style="font-size: 11px;border-spacing: 0px;padding: 0px;" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" width="100%"><tr><td style="background:transparent;border-width:0px;padding:0px;">&nbsp;</td><td align="right" style="background:transparent;border-width:0px;padding:0px;width:107px" width="107"><a href="http://clipmarks.com/share/46257E95-8102-4646-98EC-E91771721614/blog/" title="blog or email this clip"><img src="http://content6.clipmarks.com/images/c2b-foot.png" border="0" alt="blog it" width="107" height="17" style="border-width:0px;padding:0px;margin:0px;" /></a></td></tr></table></div></div>