{"680724":{"#nid":"680724","#data":{"type":"news","title":"How Earth\u0027s Early Cycles Shaped the Chemistry of Life","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp dir=\u0022ltr\u0022\u003EA new study explores how complex chemical mixtures change under shifting environmental conditions, shedding light on the prebiotic processes that may have led to life on Earth.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp dir=\u0022ltr\u0022\u003ELed by\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/chemistry.gatech.edu\/people\/loren-williams\u0022\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003ELoren Williams\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E (Georgia Institute of Technology) and\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.mfp-lab.com\/copy-of-team\u0022\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EMoran Frenkel-Pinter\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E (The Hebrew University of Jerusalem) and\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.nature.com\/articles\/s41557-025-01734-x\u0022\u003Epublished\u003C\/a\u003E in\u0026nbsp;\u003Cem\u003ENature Chemistry,\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/em\u003Ethe team\u2019s paper investigates how chemical mixtures evolve over time, offering new insights into the origins of biological complexity.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp dir=\u0022ltr\u0022\u003E\u201cOur research applies concepts from evolutionary biology to chemistry,\u201d explains Williams, a\u003Cstrong\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/strong\u003Eprofessor in the\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/chemistry.gatech.edu\/people\/loren-williams\u0022\u003ESchool of Chemistry and Biochemistry\u003C\/a\u003E. \u201cWe know that everything in biology can be reduced to chemistry, but the idea of this paper is that in the right conditions, chemistry can evolve, too. We call this chemical evolution.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp dir=\u0022ltr\u0022\u003EWhile much research has focused on individual chemical reactions that could lead to biological molecules, this study establishes an experimental model to explore how entire chemical systems evolve when exposed to environmental changes.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp dir=\u0022ltr\u0022\u003E\u201cChemical evolution is chemistry that keeps changing and doing new things,\u201d Williams explains. \u201cIt\u2019s unending chemical change, but with exploration of new chemical spaces. We wondered if we could set up a system that does that without introducing new molecules ourselves \u2014 instead we had the system oscillate between wet and dry conditions.\u201d\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp dir=\u0022ltr\u0022\u003EIn nature, these systems might look like a landscape where water condenses, and then dries out, over and over again \u2014 conditions that arise naturally from the day-night cycles of our planet.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Ch3\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EFrom simple molecules to complex systems\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/h3\u003E\u003Cp dir=\u0022ltr\u0022\u003EThe study identified three key findings \u2014 chemical systems can continuously evolve without reaching equilibrium, avoid uncontrolled complexity through selective chemical pathways, and exhibit synchronized population dynamics among different molecular species. This suggests that environmental factors played a key role in shaping the molecular complexity needed for life to emerge.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp dir=\u0022ltr\u0022\u003E\u201cThis research offers a new perspective on how molecular evolution might have unfolded on early Earth,\u201d says Frenkel-Pinter, assistant professor in the Institute of Chemistry at The Hebrew University of Jerusalem. \u201cBy demonstrating that chemical systems can self-organize and evolve in structured ways, we provide experimental evidence that may help bridge the gap between prebiotic chemistry and the emergence of biological molecules.\u201d\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp dir=\u0022ltr\u0022\u003EBeyond its relevance to origins-of-life research, the study\u2019s findings may have broader applications in synthetic biology and nanotechnology. Controlled chemical evolution could be harnessed to design new molecular systems with specific properties, potentially leading to innovations in materials science, drug development, and biotechnology.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp dir=\u0022ltr\u0022\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cem\u003EThis research is shared jointly with The Hebrew University of Jerusalem\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/em\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/en.huji.ac.il\/news\/how-earths-early-cycles-shaped-chemistry-life\u0022\u003E\u003Cem\u003Enewsroom\u003C\/em\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cem\u003E.\u003C\/em\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":"","format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EA new study explores how complex chemical mixtures change under shifting environmental conditions, shedding light on the prebiotic processes that may have led to life on Earth.\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"A new study explores how complex chemical mixtures change under shifting environmental conditions, shedding light on the prebiotic processes that may have led to life on Earth."}],"uid":"35599","created_gmt":"2025-02-25 20:40:13","changed_gmt":"2025-03-04 19:02:27","author":"sperrin6","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","location":"Atlanta, GA","dateline":{"date":"2025-02-25T00:00:00-05:00","iso_date":"2025-02-25T00:00:00-05:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"676392":{"id":"676392","type":"image","title":"In the Painted Desert of Northern Arizona (shown here in a palette of purples), wet-dry cycling has contributed to the formation of the colorful layers visible in the landscape. (Credit: USGS)","body":"\u003Cp\u003EIn the Painted Desert of Northern Arizona (shown here in a palette of purples), wet-dry cycling has contributed to the formation of the colorful layers visible in the landscape. (Credit: USGS)\u003C\/p\u003E","created":"1740516020","gmt_created":"2025-02-25 20:40:20","changed":"1740516020","gmt_changed":"2025-02-25 20:40:20","alt":"In the Painted Desert of Northern Arizona (shown here in a palette of purples), wet-dry cycling has contributed to the formation of the colorful layers visible in the landscape. (Credit: USGS)","file":{"fid":"260176","name":"usgs-PqP_d9duxpk-unsplash.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/2025\/02\/25\/usgs-PqP_d9duxpk-unsplash.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/2025\/02\/25\/usgs-PqP_d9duxpk-unsplash.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":7061101,"path_740":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/2025\/02\/25\/usgs-PqP_d9duxpk-unsplash.jpg?itok=TM5R0MHV"}}},"media_ids":["676392"],"related_links":[{"url":"https:\/\/en.huji.ac.il\/news\/how-earths-early-cycles-shaped-chemistry-life","title":"The Hebrew University of Jerusalem: How Earth\u0027s Early Cycles Shaped the Chemistry of Life"}],"groups":[{"id":"1278","name":"College of Sciences"},{"id":"1188","name":"Research Horizons"},{"id":"85951","name":"School of Chemistry and Biochemistry"}],"categories":[{"id":"141","name":"Chemistry and Chemical Engineering"},{"id":"154","name":"Environment"},{"id":"146","name":"Life Sciences and Biology"},{"id":"135","name":"Research"},{"id":"134","name":"Student and Faculty"}],"keywords":[{"id":"192250","name":"cos-microbial"},{"id":"187915","name":"go-researchnews"}],"core_research_areas":[{"id":"193653","name":"Georgia Tech Research Institute"}],"news_room_topics":[{"id":"71911","name":"Earth and Environment"}],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EContact: \u003Ca href=\u0022mailto: jess.hunt@cos.gatech.edu\u0022\u003EJess Hunt-Ralston\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"email":[],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}}}