V'V£__Tj_\ ' • ■ «v ■ .■i •, . •fiu ■. ; .• . • , w',, ■ -r 18 amino acids found Meteorites may point to life’s origin Scientific research by the Na tional Aeronautics and Space Ad ministration has led to the dis covery of a coincidence which may show a basic pattern for the proc ess of chemical evolution believed to lead to the origin of life. The discovery was made by a team of scientists headed by Dr. Cyril Ponnamperuma of the NASA's Ames Research Center, Mountain View, Calif., who de scribed the new find at a meet ing of the New York Academy of Sciences. The research team has found in a second meteorite exactly the same 18 amino acids, plus two pyrimidines, that were discovered last December in the Murchison meteorite. The newly-analyzed meteorite, known as Murray, fell in Kentucky in 1950. The Murchi son meteorite fell near Murchison, Victoria, Australia in September 1969. In describing the new findings, Ponnamperuma said: “We can only speculate at this tage, but the findings of this identical com plex patter of amino acids and pyrimidines in two meteorites could mean that this is a basic phase in the chemical process leading to life. This basic se quence in the formation of organ ic molecules could be determined by the inherent chemical charac teristics of the material of our universe. “Starting with these 18 amino acids, it would be theoretically possible to build up a living or ganism,’’ he concluded. The recent discovery of amino acids (building blocks of living cells) in the Murchison meteor ite appears to be the first con clusive proof of extraterrestrial (non-Earthly) chemical evolution the chemical process most scien tists believe led to the origin of life on Earth. Finding these life materials in a second meteorite strengthens DPC offers basic course in FORTRAN An introductory course in FOR TRAN language computer pro gramming will be offered for Tex as A&M faculty-staff members this summer by the Data Proc essing Center. DPC Director Robert Bower Jr announced that the non-credit course will acquaint participants with FORTRAN language so the computer can be utilized in re search projects or course offer ings. Class will meet Mondays, Wed nesdays and Fridays from 3 to 5 p.m. for four weeks. Sessions be ginning July 19 will meet in Room 121 of the Civil Engineering Building. Enrollment fees will not be charged. Registration forms are avail able through departmental dis tribution or DPC. Bower said content will cover basic computer concepts, flow charting and FORTRAN pro gramming. Participants will write several programs to be processed by DPC’s IBM 360/65 computer. Personnel chief gets assistant Kenneth B. Livingston has been named assistant personnel direc tor at Texas A&M, announced H. Ray Smith, personnel director. Livingston, 37, has been asso ciated with Jet Research Center Inc. since 1963. He has served as both personnel manager and mar keting manager for the Arling ton firm. The 1956 Texas A&M graduate previously served five years as safety inspector and safety engi neer for Thiokol Chemical Corp. in Marshall and Brigham City, Utah. Smith said Livingston will as sist in various Personnel Depart ment activities, including wage and salary administration, em ployment, new employee process ing, training, insurance, retire ment, safety, equal opportunity and related personnel programs. Livingston resides at 1209 S. Ridgefield Circle with his wife and son. FOR BEST RESULTS TRY BATTALION CLASSIFIED the case for the chemical evolu tion theory, and increases the like lihood of life elsewhere in the universe—created by chemical ev olution. Scientists believe that the plan ets of the solar system, including the Earth, formed 4.5 billion years ago from a circumsolar gas cloud. Finding of amino acids and other organic molecules in a meteroite of this probable age also reinforces the conclusion that these complex life materials have been present from the time of formation of the Earth. Both the Murchison meteorite and the Murray are Class II car bonaceous chondrites (two to three per cent carbon). Both are believed to be about 4.5 billion years old, and are of a type of meteorite thought by scientists to have originated in the aster oid belt, between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter. The theory of chemical evolu tion states that, starting with the basic elements of the primor dial universe, various types of energy discharges caused ever- more-complex chemical molecules to evolve. After hundreds of mil lions of years of chemical evo lution, very complex molecules appeared which could reproduce themselves, and thus be consid ered the first forms of life. Six of the amino acids found in both meteorites are of the kind normally found in living cells; 12 are similar to these but do not play a functional role in living material. Both meteorites also contained two non-biological pyr imidines, very similar to pyrimi dines of biological origin. Two of the four building blocks of the DNA chain are pyrimi dines. The DNA chain is the blueprint molecule within every living cell (human and other wise), which provides all sp ec jfi_ cations of the complete organ ism. Findings with the Murchison and Murray meteorites q re no ^. the first reports of life materials in meteorites. But other Sports have been seriously critici^ 6( j be cause of the likelihood of hi 0 i 0 gj_ cal materials getting into the meteorites after their impact with the Earth. The cases of the Murchisoq an d the Murray meteorites differ from these because of s evera j proofs of nonbiological anc) non _ Earthly origin, and because precise identifications mad^ The researchers found in g 00 d quantity six amino acids nor Ina Uy found in living cells, mix^ j n with 12 other amino acids simi lar to protein forming ^ m i no acids but having no functi ona i role in living organisms, and rare ly found on Earth. The amino acids found also were an almost equal mixture of both D and L types (right and left-handed molecule structures). Amino acids of biological origin, like those found on Earth, are all of the left handed variety be cause Earth organisms produce only left-handed amino acids. Right-handed amino acids are rarely found on Earth. Biologists can imagine that life on another planet could be based on right- handed amino acids instead. But they agree that a mixture of both types virtually rules out biologi cal origin, and certainly Earthly origin. The identification of the mate rials in the Murchison and Mur ray meteorites was made by gas chromatography combined with mass spectrometry, among the most precise methods known for exact identifications of complex chemicals. Page 4 THE BATTALION College Station, Texas Wednesday, June 30,1971 Read Battalion Classifieds A \M OPJECM l STAMP*® I Qvl ATTENTION SUMMER SCHOOL STUDENTS Tel ilore and i woku July 12 - August 20 7-DAY SUMMER BOARD 5-DAY SUMMER BOARD $104.25 $ 94.00 YOU CANNOT EAT FOR LESS ANYWHERE ELSE ‘QUALITY FIRST’ WUPICKILS « NAPKINS PLATES (poll i new he M The a wit ilnsto he A! jiodul fsiojnMEpJ PAPER. C)" WH1TE PAPER PEPPER F es2'' 5 & W SAUCE MUSTARD HEINZ FRENCH !S 16 Oz. Btl. slAoZ- OAR POTATO CHIPS 80 '** BAKER \OOZ. R3qr OWXOfiL LIGHTER FU1ID WNGKDOlERdR. tOiS, 88 i VIENNA SAUSAGE ^ 4 <&88T CATSUP HUNTS SPECIAL ■g?'29 4 . DOG food peuqHT 4 [(eOZ. 37c PINE OIL 45c CR&CKERSffiW 41c OREOS qz&wtsAMDWlCH 1 p)£6‘ 53c CALIFORNIA POMES CAUFOp-Nll/V RMSHES ws WASH.CE*TRAFA*kV) KING KOOLER DRINKS 10 12 Oz. Cans X>p<3UN-|TY FN2N\ FF£SH propuce. H3. anmattEs«I NAPPIES * u FP+tOf FULL > coiopfioo ONIONS ^ & T^WTiMCx n QNIHOUPESw™ ONIONS •L'kW i ^ * SS