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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
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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
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