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THE SEARCH FOR
LIFE'S
ORIGINS
Progress and Future Directions
in Plan eta ry Biology
and Chemical Evolution
SPACE STUDIES BOARD
Committee on Planetary Biology and Chemical Evolution
Commission on Physical Sciences, Mathematics, and Applications
National Research Council
NATIONAL ACADEMY PRESS
Washington, D.C. 1990
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NATIONAL ACADEMY PRESS · 2101 Constitution Avenue, N.W. · Washington, D.C. 20418
NOTICE: The project that is the subject of this report was approved by the Governing Board
of the National Research Council, whose members are drawn from the councils of the National
Academy of Sciences, the National Academy of Engineering, and the Institute of Medicine.
The members of the committee responsible for the report were chosen for their special compe-
tences and with regard for appropriate balance.
This report has been reviewed by a group other than the authors according to procedures
approved by a Report Review Committee consisting of members of the National Academy of
Sciences, the National Academy of Engineering, and the Institute of Medicine.
Support for this project was provided by Contract NASW 4102 between the National
Academy of Sciences and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
The Search for life's origins: progress and future directions in
planetary biology and chemical evolution / Committee on Planetary
Biology and Chemical Evolution.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references.
Includes index.
ISBN 0-309-04246-1
1. Life Origin. 2. Space biology. 3. Chemical evolution.
I. National Research Council (U.S.). Committee on Planetary Biology
and Chemical Evolution.
QH325.S4 18 1990
577 dc20
Copyright @) 1990 by the National Academy of Sciences
90-36899
CIP
No part of this book may be reproduced by any mechanical, photographic, or electronic
process, or in the form of a phonographic recording, nor may it be stored in a retrieval system,
transmitted, or otherwise copied for public or private use, without written permission from the
publisher, except for the purposes of official use by the U.S. government.
Printed in the United States of America
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COMMITTEE ON PLANETARY BIOLOGY AND
CHEMICAL EVOLUTION
HAROLD P. KLEIN, Santa Clara University, Chairman
JOHN CRONIN, Arizona State University
GEORGE FOX, University of Houston
DIANA FRECKMAN, University of California at Riverside
RICHARD HANSON, University of Minnesota
HYMAN HARTMAN, University of California at Berkeley
ERIC HERBST, Duke University
WILLIAM IRVINE, University of Massachusetts
JENNIFER KITCHELL, University of Michigan
ANDREW KNOLL, Harvard University
JOHN ORO, University of Houston
TOBIAS OWEN, State University of New York at Stony Brook
NORMAN PACE, Indiana University
DAVID RAUP, University of Chicago
WILLIAM REINERS, University of Wyoming
NORMAN SLEEP, Stanford University
JILL TARTER, University of California at Berkeley
DAVID USHER, Cornell University
ROBERT WOODMANSEE, Colorado State University
Consultants
SHERWOOD CHANG, NASA Ames Research Center
BRUCE FEGLEY, JR., Massachusetts Institute of Technology
MITCHELL SOGIN, National Jewish Center
K. D. STEWART, Miami University
XANDIER THIELENS, University of California at Berkeley
CARL WOESE, University of Illinois
MICHAEL YARUS, Colorado University
Space Studies Board Stay
JOYCE M. PURCELL, Executive Secretary
MELANIE M. GREEN, Secretary
. . .
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SPACE STUDIES BOARD
LOUIS J. LANZEROTTI, AT&T Bell Laboratories, Chairman
PHILIP ABELSON, American Association for the Advancement of Science
JOSEPH A. BURNS, Cornell University
JOHN R. CARRUTHERS, INTEL
ANDREA K. DUPREE, Center for Astrophysics
JOHN A. DUTTON, Pennsylvania State University
LARRY W. ESPOSITO, University of Colorado
JAMES P. FERRIS, Renssalear Polytechnic Institute
HERBERT FRIEDMAN, Naval Research Laboratory
RICHARD L. GARWIN, IBM T. J. Watson Research Center
RICCARDO GIACCONI, Space Telescope Science Institute
NOEL W. HINNERS, Martin Marietta Corporation
JAMES R. HOUCK, Cornell University
DAVID A. LANDGREBE, Purdue University
JOHN W. LEIBACHER, National Solar Observatory
ELLIOTT C. LEVINTHAL, Stanford University
MICHAEL MENDILLO, Boston University
WILLIAM J. MERRELL, JR., Texas A&M University
RICHARD K. MOORE, University of Kansas
ROBERT H. MOSER, NutraSweet Corporation
NORMAN F. NESS, Bartol Research Institute
MARCIA NEUGEBAUER, Jet Propulsion Laboratory
JOSEPH M. REYNOLDS, Louisiana State University
SALLY K. RIDE, California Space Institute
ROBERT F. SEKERKA, Carnegie-Mellon University
MARK SETTLE, ARCO Oil and Gas Company
L. DENNIS SMITH, University of California at Irvine
BYRON D. TAPLEY, Center for Space Research
IV
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COMMISSION ON PHYSICAL SCIENCES,
MATHEMATICS, AND APPLICATIONS*
NORMAN HACKERMAN, Robert A. Welch Foundation, Chairman
GEORGE F. CARRIER, Harvard University
HERBERT D. DOAN, The Dow Chemical Company (retired)
DEAN E. EASTMAN, IBM T. J. Watson Research Center
MARYE ANNE FOX, University of Texas
GERHART FRIEDLANDER, Brookhaven National Laboratory
PHILLIP A. GRIFFITHS, Duke University.
NEAL F. LANE, Rice University
CHRISTOPHER F. MCKEE, University of California at Berkeley
RICHARD S. NICHOLSON, American Association for the
Advancement of Science
JEREMIAH P. OSTRIKER, Princeton University Observatory
ROY F. SCHWITTERS, Superconducting Super Collider Laboratory
LARRY L. SMARR, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
NORMAN METZGER, Executive Director
*The project that is the subject of this report was initiated under the predecessor
group of the Commission on Physical Sciences, Mathematics, and Applications,
which is the Commission on Physical Sciences, Mathematics, and Resources, whose
members are listed in the appendix.
v
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The National Academy of Sciences is a private, nonprofit, self-perpetuating society of
distinguished scholars engaged in scientific and engineering research, dedicated to the furtherance
of science and technology and to their use for the general welfare. Upon the authority of the
charter granted to it by the Congress in 1863, the Academy has a mandate that requires it to
advise the federal government on scientific and technical matters. Dr. Frank Press is president
of the National Academy of Sciences.
The National Academy of Engineering was established in 1964, under the charter of the
National Academy of Sciences, as a parallel organization of outstanding engineers. It is
autonomous in its administration and in the selection of its members, sharing with the National
Academy of Sciences the responsibility for advising the federal government. The National
Academy of Engineering also sponsors engineering programs aimed at meeting national needs,
encourages education and research, and recognizes the superior achievements of engineers.
Dr. Robert M. White is president of the National Academy of Engineering.
The Institute of Medicine was established in 1970 by the National Academy of Sciences to
secure the services of eminent members of appropriate professions in the examination of
policy matters pertaining to the health of the public. The Institute acts under the responsibility
given to the National Academy of Sciences by its congressional charter to be an adviser to the
federal government and, upon its own initiative, to identify issues of medical care, research,
and education. Dr. Samuel O. Thier is president of the Institute of Medicine.
The National Research Council was organized by the National Academy of Sciences in
1916 to associate the broad community of science and technology with the Academy's pur-
poses of furthering knowledge and advising the federal government. Functioning in accor-
dance with general policies determined by the Academy, the Council has become the principal
operating agency of both the National Academy of Sciences and the National Academy of
Engineering in providing services to the government, the public, and the scientific and engi-
neering communities. The Council is administered jointly by both Academies and the Institute
of Medicine. Dr. Frank Press and Dr. Robert M. White are chairman and vice chairman,
respectively, of the National Research Council.
Vl
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Foreword
One of the areas of interest to the Space Studies Board has long been the
field of exobiology. This multidisciplinary endeavor seeks to understand
the interactions between a developing and evolving biological system and
the physical environments within which these evolutionary processes take
place. Over the years, through its Committee on Planetary Biology and
Chemical Evolution, the board has developed strategies for studies in this
area, has evaluated the prospects for extant biology elsewhere in the solar
system, and has provided guidelines for the protection, of both the Earth
and other bodies, from the possible contamination resulting from space
missions (Post-Viking Biological Investigations of Mars t19771; Recom-
mendations on Quarantine Policy for Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Nep-
tune, and Titan t19781; Origin and Evolution of Life—Implications for the
Planets: A Scientific Strategy for the 1980s [198111.
A decade has passed since the board last evaluated the status of this
field a decade during which many exciting new observations and discov-
eries have been made, both in space missions and in ground-based laborato-
ries and observatories. Among these may be cited new information from
the Comet Halley, Voyager, and Infrared Astronomy Satellite missions;
from field studies indicating the possible influences of extraterrestrial fac-
tors on biological evolution; and from laboratory studies on the replication
of simple macromolecules. These and many other developments prompted
the board to initiate a new study of planetary biology and chemical evolu-
tion in order to identify opportunities for conducting such investigations in
space.
The current report is the result of deliberations that began with a summer
study at Snowmass, Colorado, in August of 1986 and continued until the
end of 1988. The resulting document includes discussions of the evolution
. .
V11
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. ~ .
Vlll
FOREWORD
of organic compounds in the interstellar medium and solar nebula; assess-
ment of the information regarding prebiotic conditions on the early Earth
and of the fossil record of early terrestrial organisms; assessment of our
understanding of the surface and subsurface of Mars with a view toward
paleontological investigations of that planet; evaluation of the status of
laboratory investigations on the origin and early evolution of life on Earth;
and discussion of techniques to find evidence of biological activity in other
solar systems.
These considerations are particularly important at this time as the nation
approaches and plans for a period of increasingly vigorous scientific inves-
tigations in space over the next decade and beyond—on solar-system mis-
sions and from orbiting observational platforms.
LOUIS J. LANZEROTTI, Chairman
Space Studies Board
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Contents
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
1 OVERVIEW............
2 THE COSMIC HISTORY OF THE BIOGENIC ELEMENTS AND
COMPOUNDS ............................................
. .
3 EARLY PLANETARY ENVIRONMENTS: IMPLICATIONS FOR
CHEMICAL EVOLUTION AND THE ORIGIN OF LIFE .........
4 THE ORIGIN OF LIFE .................
5 THE EVOLUTION OF CELLULAR AND
MULTICELLULAR LIFE ...............
6 SEARCH FOR LIFE OUTSIDE THE SOLAR SYSTEM
7 MAJOR RESEARCH RECOMMENDATIONS
8 SPACE SCIENCE PROGRAM AND POLICY ISSUES
REFERENCES .
GLOSSARY . .
APPENDIX . .
INDEX
16
21
56
IX
78
91
105
123
130
133
135
139
141
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THE SEARCH FOR
LIFE' S
ORIGINS
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