Question

What information is available these days in aerosols as pre-biotic reactors?

The concept of aerosols as pre-biotic reactors is still in the running for explaining the origin of life on Earth. The aerosol theory follows this general outline: aerosols in the early Earth atmosphere provided a chemical workbench for organic material to converge over time. It has also been proposed that aerosols, with their unique properties, could have been prototypes for the first cells on Earth. So not only are aerosols thought to have provided a place for organic chemistry to occur they could very well have provided the structural blue print for cellular life. There are other theories that address the issue of the origin of life on Earth. One theory is that life evolved around deep-sea vents, before Earth had an environment that could support oxygen. Another theory is that organic material was delivered to Earth via comets, meteors, or interstellar dust particles. The aerosol theory differs from these two other theories due to the fact that it is thought that basic organic molecules were already present in the environment; the aerosols just provided the proper working conditions to encourage the appropriate chemistry. And, as stated in the original Roadmap for the NASA Astrobiology Institute, it could be a combination of all three theories that led to the origin of life. For more information about aerosols in relation to the origin of life on Earth: http://www.lbl.gov/Science-Articles/Archive/bubble-genesis-of-life.html http://scienceweek.com/2000/sw001110.htm NAI Roadmap: http://astrobiology.arc.nasa.gov/roadmap/index.html Related information from Ask an Astrobiologist archives: http://nai.arc.nasa.gov/astrobio/astrobio_detail.cfm?ID=184 http://nai.arc.nasa.gov/astrobio/astrobio_detail.cfm?ID=188 Madalyn Edwards, NASA Astrobiology Institute
October 15, 2002