Affiliations 

  • 1 Space Science Center (ANGKASA), Institute of Climate Change, National University of Malaysia, 43600 Selangor, Malaysia
  • 2 Blue Marble Space Institute of Science, 600 1St Ave, Floor 1, Seattle, WA 98104 USA
Biophys Rev, 2024 Oct;16(5):651-654.
PMID: 39618795 DOI: 10.1007/s12551-024-01223-4

Abstract

The sun generates light and heat for life on Earth to flourish. However, during the late Hadean-early Archean epoch on Earth, the "faint young sun" (FYS) was less luminous, influencing prebiotic chemistry and, by extension, the origins of life (OoL). However, higher levels of ultraviolet (UV) radiation from the FYS, especially UV-C, due to the lack of an ozone layer, would likely have impacted the assembly, stability, persistence, and functions of prebiotic cellular precursors, i.e., protocells. Consequently, it is essential to study how such UV-C radiation would have affected the synthesis and stability of prebiotically relevant molecules and protocells to better understand the plausibility of the OoL during the FYS period. In this letter, we introduce unanswered questions surrounding the structure and stability of protocells under UV-C radiation. Such a perspective may be vital to exoplanetary systems orbiting other stars, enhancing our understanding of life's potential beyond our solar system.

* Title and MeSH Headings from MEDLINE®/PubMed®, a database of the U.S. National Library of Medicine.