4 3 / 2024 // LEOPOLDINA / NEWS

Scientific coordinators of the Annual Assembly : Thomas Carell and Thomas Henning

At the Annual Assembly , Leopoldina Members , international experts , postdocs and school students discussed the astronomical , physical , chemical , and biological conditions for the origin of life .

Images : Anna Kolata , Markus Scholz | Leopoldina

“ Origin and beginning of life ” was the topic of the Leopoldina ’ s Annual Assembly . In the interview the scientific coordinators , chemist , Thomas Carell ML , and astrophysicist , Thomas Henning ML , summarise the ideas behind the conference .

As a biochemist and professor of organic chemistry at the Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich , what is it about the origins of life that interests you ? Thomas Carell : We have a good idea of how organisms developed on Earth . This is clearly shown from fossils . However , we are in the dark as to how central biopolymers and genetic material developed . This is why I am interested in how the first organic molecules and amino acids were formed on early Earth .

And as an astrophysicist at the Max Planck Institute for Astronomy , how would you describe the origin of life ? Thomas Henning : We know that the early Earth ’ s atmosphere consisted of carbon dioxide , nitrogen and possibly some water . Producing organic compounds from these ingredients is not easy . Hydrogen cyanide might be a key molecule for many prebiotic processes , but its production requires the addition of catalysts such as iron . Yet , where does the iron come from ? So this phase of the origin of life consists of several elements : on the one hand there are pure chemical processes and on the other there is the question of what early Earth looked like at the time of the origin of life , i . e . what were the astrophysical conditions ?

How can organic compounds be produced which would embody the beginning of biological life ? Thomas Henning : On Earth , iron could have , for example , been extracted from silicates for use as a catalyst or it could have come to the planet from iron meteorites . Organic compounds could have come to Earth directly by way of meteorite-like impacts .

Do you also think this is plausible ? Thomas Carell : Yes , because we know that organic compounds can only form with great difficulty in the CO2 atmosphere mentioned by Mr Henning . This