Protocell Research
One area where there has been some advancement has been in the creation of protocells. These are self-organized heterogeneously ordered, circle collections of lipids proposed as a stepping stone to the origin of life. Most of these protocell assembly experiments can be summed up by a protocol similar to this.
- Purchase a homicidal diacyl lipid from a chemical company or synthesize stereochemically scrambled lipids from smaller protein molecules.
- Add those lipids to water and observe the simple and expected thermodynamically driven assembly of those lipids into synthetic bilayer vesicles upon agitation. Sometimes the researchers will add other molecules, like nucleotides, that get engulfed by the vestibule as it forms.
As interesting as these results are there is a vast difference between a real cell membrane and a protocell membrane.
The outside surface of a bilayer in a living cell is different from the inside layer. In a living cell there are thousands of different kinds of lipid structures in the cellular membrane. All these structures are required for the various functions of the membrane. In a protocell, the inside and outside layer are the same.
In a living cell membrane there are thousands of other structures. Many of these structures are required to allow the proper nutrients to get into the cell and keep out what’s not needed or dangerous to the cell. Without them the cell won’t work. In a protocell, none of these additional structures exist.
Before you can have a cell you need to have the right molecules to make the cell. A cell, even the simplest type, is extremely complicated. In Dr. Tour expert opinion, vastly more complicated that his nano robots.
From Molecules to Cells
Dr Tour states, “Molecules don’t care about life. Organisms care about life, chemistry, on the contrary, is utterly indifferent to life. Without a biology derived entity acting upon them, like a person making them do something, molecules have never been shown to evolve towards life, never.”
The odds of a living cell forming through a random selection is astronomical, the odds of it happening simultaneously is mathematically impossible. Also consider the fact that the greatest biologists of our time have not been able to assemble a living cell.
Through mathematics you can determine the odds of something happening. One of the basic building blocks required to make a cell is protein molecules. To make the most simple cell requires 20 different kinds of amino acids. With amino acids you can make protein molecules. The simplest cells need a 100 different kinds of protein molecules. The odds of all these protein molecules being created through natural selection has been estimated at 1 x 10 to the 120th power. That’s a 1 with 120 zeros past it.
1,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000
In an attempt to understand how big that numbers is let’s look at some numbers we understand.
A million is 1,000,000,000 or 1 x 10 9th power. A million seconds is 11 days.
A billion is 1,000,000,000,000 or 1 x 10 12th power. A billion seconds is 32 years.
A trillion is 1,000,000,000,000,000 or 1 x 10 15th power. A trillion seconds is 32,000 years.
If we go back to the beginning of time, when the universe was created, which is believed to be 13.7 bilion years ago. That was
The only number that can somewhat compare is the estimated number of elemental particles in the known universe. That would be 1 x 19 90 power.