Abstract
Recent analysis of samples from asteroids Ryugu and Bennu did not reveal any significant amino acid enantiomeric excesses, and these facts appear to contradict the most prevailing view that a slight enantiomeric excess of l-amino acids present on the primitive Earth is the origin of homochirality. From the perspective of continuity in biological evolution, it would again be considered a strong possibility that primordial tRNA aminoacylation could have led to preferential homochiral (l-) protein biosynthesis on the early Earth (Tamura–Schimmel model), and that RNA played a major role in the generation of amino acid homochirality. The results of recent molecular dynamics simulations have also clarified the mechanism of its chiral selectivity.
Original language | English |
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Article number | 13 |
Journal | Journal of Biosciences |
Volume | 50 |
Issue number | 1 |
DOIs | |
Publication status | Published - Mar 2025 |
Keywords
- Amino acid
- asteroid
- homochirality
- molecular dynamics simulations
- origin of life
- tRNA aminoacylation