The basic compounds that are the source of all living things have a predetermined chirality, or directionality, similar to the situation in which humans are born left-handed or right-handed
The basic compounds that are the source of all living things have properties chirality, or directionality, predetermined, similar to the situation in which people are born left- or right-handed. This chirality has a significant effect on the chemistry and molecular interactions in all living things. The origin of this chirality from the basic building blocks of matter is one of life's greatest mysteries. Scientists from the US Department of Energy have found a way to instill this directionality in pre-biological compounds.
"Understanding the origin of the compounds essential to life is one of the most fundamental scientific issues in the field of biochemistry," says chemist Richard Rosenberg. "Chirality plays a very fundamental role inbiological processes, and scientists have been trying for many years to discover the mechanisms leading to this feature."
The researcher used X-rays to bombard chiral compounds adsorbed on a magnetic substrate and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy to monitor the changes occurring in the chemical bonds.
He discovered that changing the direction of the magnetism in relation to the powerful X-ray beam led to an excess of one type of chirality at the expense of the other type. Changing the direction of the magnetism reversed the spin polarization of "secondary" (low-energy) electrons that were ejected from the substrate.
Iron is a magnetic element and is found in many materials in nature; Ionizing radiation and magnetic fields are very common throughout the universe. Based on the results of this study, it is likely that the chirality could have resulted from ionizing irradiation of compounds, during their migration throughout the universe, while adsorbed on a magnetic substrate found in dust clouds, meteors, comets or young stars.
"Our study shows that spin-polarized secondary electrons reacting with chiral compounds could lead to a significant preference for one type of chirality in pre-biological compounds," explains the researcher. An article presenting this research was published in the scientific journal Physical Review Letters.
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As far as I understand the article, in order for the compound to be unidirectional, the magnetic radiation has to have a certain direction.
This begs the question: What causes nature to favor certain intentions of the radiation? Is the universe not symmetrical?
Sounds promising