- Joined
- Jan 20, 2026
- Messages
- 345
- Reaction score
- 2,426
The mineral, which is covered with the ocean floor, could be a factory for the production of molecules of life - right now scientists are proving this.
The mystery of the origin of life on Earth has become a little less foggy. Scientists have found a chemical pathway that could constantly supply the young planet with hydrogen cyanide without a methane-rich atmosphere. The main role in the reaction was played by manganese dioxide, an ordinary mineral that can convert amino acids into HCN in water.
Cyanide hydrogen has long occupied a special place in theories about the origin of life. A small and very reactive molecule can serve as a raw material for more complex compounds, including amino acids, nitrogenous bases and sugars. Even the famous experiment between Miller and Jüri in 1953 showed that under suitable conditions, HCN helps to obtain chemical bricks, from which biology could begin.
The problem arose later, when geologists began to revise the composition of the atmosphere of early Earth. Classical hydrogen cyanide-footed reactions work well in a methane-rich environment, but modern data suggest that methane is probably small on the young Earth. So, scientists still had an unpleasant gap in the scenario: HCN is needed for prebiotic chemistry, but the usual source of HCN could work too weakly.
The team of Professor Rühei Nakamura and Dr. Yamay Li of the Institute of Science decided to check whether the minerals of early Earth could launch another way of HCN. The researchers studied 38 natural minerals and tested whether the minerals were able to convert glycine, the simplest and probably one of the most common amino acids in the prebiotic medium, into hydrogen cyanide without oxygen and without a restorative atmosphere.
The best task coped with the problem of manganese dioxide, MnO2. In experiments, the mineral gave cyanide concentrations of up to two orders of magnitude higher than the other proven minerals. The reaction was in the water, at a wide range of acidity, from acidic to a highly alkaline environment, as well as at temperatures from 6 to 60 ° C. Scientists separately noted that the formation of HCN continued even at a very low concentration of amino acids.
The isotopic labels helped to confirm that hydrogen cyanide is formed directly from the carbon skeleton of glycine. Manganese dioxide oxidizes the amino acid, breaks the bond between carbon atoms and releases HCN along with byproducts, including ammonia and the phant. A similar path worked not only for glycine, but also for several other protein amino acids, as well as short peptides.
The authors of the work believe that the early Earth could receive hydrogen cyanide continuously, without the need for a methane atmosphere. The source was amino acids that appeared on methane-dependent prebiotic routes or came to the planet with meteorites.
The discovery links the chemistry of the young Earth with the processes of living organisms. Modern biological systems are also able to obtain HCN from amino acids through similar intermediate stages. The new mineral path does not prove how life arose, but closes an important gap in one of the main hypotheses and shows that simple minerals could play a much more active role in the chemical evolution of the planet.
The mystery of the origin of life on Earth has become a little less foggy. Scientists have found a chemical pathway that could constantly supply the young planet with hydrogen cyanide without a methane-rich atmosphere. The main role in the reaction was played by manganese dioxide, an ordinary mineral that can convert amino acids into HCN in water.
Cyanide hydrogen has long occupied a special place in theories about the origin of life. A small and very reactive molecule can serve as a raw material for more complex compounds, including amino acids, nitrogenous bases and sugars. Even the famous experiment between Miller and Jüri in 1953 showed that under suitable conditions, HCN helps to obtain chemical bricks, from which biology could begin.
The problem arose later, when geologists began to revise the composition of the atmosphere of early Earth. Classical hydrogen cyanide-footed reactions work well in a methane-rich environment, but modern data suggest that methane is probably small on the young Earth. So, scientists still had an unpleasant gap in the scenario: HCN is needed for prebiotic chemistry, but the usual source of HCN could work too weakly.
The team of Professor Rühei Nakamura and Dr. Yamay Li of the Institute of Science decided to check whether the minerals of early Earth could launch another way of HCN. The researchers studied 38 natural minerals and tested whether the minerals were able to convert glycine, the simplest and probably one of the most common amino acids in the prebiotic medium, into hydrogen cyanide without oxygen and without a restorative atmosphere.
The best task coped with the problem of manganese dioxide, MnO2. In experiments, the mineral gave cyanide concentrations of up to two orders of magnitude higher than the other proven minerals. The reaction was in the water, at a wide range of acidity, from acidic to a highly alkaline environment, as well as at temperatures from 6 to 60 ° C. Scientists separately noted that the formation of HCN continued even at a very low concentration of amino acids.
The isotopic labels helped to confirm that hydrogen cyanide is formed directly from the carbon skeleton of glycine. Manganese dioxide oxidizes the amino acid, breaks the bond between carbon atoms and releases HCN along with byproducts, including ammonia and the phant. A similar path worked not only for glycine, but also for several other protein amino acids, as well as short peptides.
The authors of the work believe that the early Earth could receive hydrogen cyanide continuously, without the need for a methane atmosphere. The source was amino acids that appeared on methane-dependent prebiotic routes or came to the planet with meteorites.
The discovery links the chemistry of the young Earth with the processes of living organisms. Modern biological systems are also able to obtain HCN from amino acids through similar intermediate stages. The new mineral path does not prove how life arose, but closes an important gap in one of the main hypotheses and shows that simple minerals could play a much more active role in the chemical evolution of the planet.
