DNA and the origins of life in micaceous clay

Reproducible imaging of DNA by atomic force microscopy was a useful predecessor to Ned Seeman's DNA nano technology. Many of the products of DNA nanotechnology were imaged in the atomic force microscope. The mica substrate used in this atomic force microscopy research formed the inspiration for the hypothesis that micaceous clay was a likely habitat for the origins of life. Montmorillonite clay has been a successful substrate for the polymerization of amino acids and nucleotides into peptides and DNA oligomers in research on life's origins. Mica and montmorillonite have the same anionic lattice, with a hexagonal spacing of 0.5 nm. Micas are nonswelling clays, with potassium ions (K thorn ) holding the crystal sheets together, providing a stable environment for the processes and molecular complexes needed for the emergence of living cells. Montmorillonite crystal sheets are held together by smaller sodium ions (Na thorn ), which results in swelling and shrinking during wet-dry cycles, providing a less stable environment. Also, the cells in all types of living systems have high intracellular K thorn concentrations, which makes mica a more likely habitat for the origins of life than montmorillonite. Finally, moving mica sheets provides mechanical energy at the split edges of the sheets in mica books.This mechanical energy of mica sheets, moving open and shut, in response to fluid flow, may have preceded chemical energy at life's origins, powering early prebiotic processes, such as the formation of covalent bonds, the interactions of molecular complexes, and the budding off of protocells before the molecular mechanism of cell division had developed.

Automated summary

Reproducible imaging of DNA by atomic force microscopy played a crucial role in the development of DNA nanotechnology and provided insights into the origin of life. Mica and montmorillonite served as substrates in the study of life's origins, with mica being a more likely habitat than montmorillonite. The mechanical energy of mica sheets may have preceded chemical energy in driving early prebiotic processes.