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Did Solid Surfaces Enable the Origin of Life?
İrep Gözen1,2
1Centre for Molecular Medicine Norway, Faculty of Medicine, University of Oslo, 0318 Oslo, Norway.
Abstract:
In this perspective article, I discuss whether and how solid surfaces could have played a key role in the formation of membranous primitive cells on the early Earth. I argue why surface energy could have been used by prebiotic amphiphile assemblies for unique morphological transformations, and present recent experimental findings showing the surface-dependent formation and behavior of sophisticated lipid membrane structures. Finally, I discuss the possible unique contributions of such surface-adhered architectures to the transition from prebiotic matter to living systems.
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