Crystal Origins

Erin Shaw
mineral large.jpg

Organic chemist Alexander Cairns-Smith proposes a radical idea of the origins of life on Earth that points to the potential for life on other planets.  Building upon J.D. Bernal’s idea that life’s first molecules came together in clay minerals in the earth, Cairns-Smith theorizes that chemicals in the clay mineral layers “acted as the first genetic information carriers.” The evidence for his claim that DNA formed from inorganic material is found in crystals: Both inorganic crystals and DNA contain self-replicating patterned structures, and both have the ability to reliably copy these patterned sequences. These two qualities form the basis of heredity.

The clay mineral layers that preceded all organic life consisted of layers of crystal structure packed together in an arbitrary sequence, much like the DNA base pairs that make up the complex organisms of the present. Essentially, organic substances evolved from chemical interactions and then stabilized and started to replicate, a process that links inorganic and organic chemistry. If his theory is correct, it’s possible that other planets already contain the mineral template that formed our DNA. Confirmation of Cairns-Smith’s theory could expand the search for extraterrestrial life to planets that were previously thought too hostile for organic organisms.


image: "Mineral" by _Bohemian_ on Flick courtesy of Creative Commons Licensing.

Comments

Interesting Idea

Submitted by DeusExLibrus on Mon, 04/13/2009 - 21:05.
Certainly an intriguing theory. I'd love to read more articles about this sort of stuff.

We're living stones?

Submitted by Bark on Tue, 04/14/2009 - 01:46.
We're living stones?

Clay figurines..

Submitted by Sibyl Eyes on Tue, 04/14/2009 - 02:38.
Interesting.. Certainly gives new meaning to this little passage: Genesis 2:7 the LORD God formed the man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being. Light, Sibyl http://sibyleyes.wordpress.com/

God sleeps in the rock

Submitted by mountain wind on Tue, 04/14/2009 - 07:05.
(Remeniscinet of some Sufist guy's saying that) God sleeps in the rock, dreams in the plant, stirrs in the animal and awakens in man.

Nice to see

Submitted by DavidCain on Tue, 04/14/2009 - 08:58.
an alternative view to the standard "born in a salty soup" theory. Whatever happened, it was some form of mineral becoming animal and vegetable. Certainly smaller than a breadbox though. www.raptitude.com -- The gentle art of sanity amidst civilization

I love this idea

Submitted by Anteros on Wed, 04/15/2009 - 18:32.
If I recall correctly, I believe it's compatible with concepts in Taoist herbology, among other things, which does not relegate crystals to the domain of "inanimate" materials. I have a couple of tomes on that topic which I inherited from a friend, and will try looking it up. I also like very much that this theory expands the possible venues for life throughout the universe. So I'll be very pleased if it turns out to be accurate.

My own Taoist research cites

Submitted by drew hempel on Wed, 04/15/2009 - 19:39.
My own Taoist research cites Cairns-Smith. He has a Graham in his name if I remember correctly. Might want to double check that. Anyway it's postulated that silica crystals were once right-hand assymmetric which enabled them to have a nonlinear feedback. Currently they are symmetric. This is actually a huge deal for Richard Dawkins who is promoting "synthetic ecology" using NeoPlatonic (Buckyfullerene) New Age sacred geometry. Just wait till the public finds out and his hyper-materialist worldview will be undermined. Science is Freemasonry. My natural resonance revolution concept is that language is left-brain dominant and co-evolved with right-hand dominant technology which in turn destroys left-hand asymmetric carbon-based molecules (ecology) and right-brain dominant life (shamanism). So the idea that we can once again make right-hand asymmetric silica-based life (nanobiomotors using soy-based silica nanoparticles) is just the end conclusion of Cairns-Smith's argument that silica was originally left-hand asymmetric so it could lead to DNA creation. My blogbook http://mothershiplanding.blogspot.com has further details.

Dawkins Does Sacred Geometry?

Submitted by Anteros on Wed, 04/15/2009 - 23:03.

I love it. The friend from whom I inherited those books was into Dawkins big time, but I don't think he'd be too happy about the Prof's recent attacks on alternative medicines. I used to hang out sometimes at Dawkins' website, but found there that hard-core atheists tend to behave too much like hard-core monotheists: too little tolerance for rival belief systems.

I'm afraid I didn't quite follow about the lobes of the brain and the soy-based silica nano-particles, but I'll give the blog a shot.

.........

Okay, I checked out the blog. That Syrian Rue experience sounds like some serious psychonautical exploration. After an early interest in psychedelics sparked by reading A. Huxley, I've been languishing in fake-reality egoland for thirty years, and am only now trying to find my way out of the desert. Thanks for reminding me of such invaluable navigational tools.

http://gnn.tv/threads/5919/so

Submitted by drew hempel on Thu, 04/16/2009 - 00:07.
http://gnn.tv/threads/5919/soliton_and_freemasonry Here's more details on my Cairns-Smith research. Thanks for checking out my blogbook.

Alternative Theories are Good

Submitted by sniffcode.com on Thu, 04/16/2009 - 09:06.
More important than this theory actually being "right", is that we have people developing alternative theories for the science of life. The prevailing theories, unfortunately, are lifeless and as Neil Postman said, "In the end, science does not provide the answers most of us require. Its story of our origins and of our end is, to say the least, unsatisfactory." Most people, including mathematicians and scientists, have a nagging feeling that the current models are off the mark. There's an excellent out-of-print book called "The Great Evolution Mystery" that expounds on this. I hope more alternatives are presented to us so that our minds can continue moving forward instead of running in place with modern scientism. www.sniffcode.com

We've always been evolved stones...

Submitted by DVHdesigns on Thu, 04/16/2009 - 22:45.
I love the comments. It IS on page one of the bible that God created us from the dust of the earth.  In geological time I'm sure that God takes long, deep, SLOW breaths, then.... Viola! Crystals into DNA. As a professional lapidary artist (stonecutter - bead maker) I especially like the quote from Rumi that "God sleeps in the stones,..." I am cutting and polishing all different kinds of pieces of the planet every day, from everywhere on earth. Today I'm working on Australian Tigereye, which is quartz replacement of crocodilite fibers (a kind of asbestos). But it's "petrified" asbestos, so it's all quartz now and it has evolved so beautifully. Waves of shimmering olive green cats eye running through green stone... My dream is that "New Thought" folks can spend more time just contemplating the beauty and personal meanings of "god sleeping in the stones" and not get too caught up in some dogma about what stone equals what.

I wish I could paint with

Submitted by Anteros on Wed, 04/22/2009 - 23:52.

gemstones. If I could spread a field of minuscule rubies and minutely faceted amethyst grains across a pane of glass or crystal, I'd have the most beautiful fiery sparkling colors that could be imagined. It would last forever too, provided the bonding agent be likewise inorganic and lightfast.

In his essay "Why Are Precious Stones Precious?" Huxley points out that gems not only partake of eternity, but remind us of what he calls "the antipodes of the mind," where scenes of visionary beauty live inside us, which he posits as the answer to his title and question.