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- Title
The Nature of the Spark Is a Pivotal Element in the Design of a Miller–Urey Experiment.
- Authors
Ravanbodshirazi, Sina; Boutfol, Timothée; Safaridehkohneh, Neda; Finkler, Marc; Mohammadi-Kambs, Mina; Ott, Albrecht
- Abstract
Miller and Urey applied electric sparks to a reducive mixture of CH4, NH3, and water to obtain a complex organic mixture including biomolecules. In this study, we examined the impact of temperature, initial pressure, ammonia concentration, and the spark generator on the chemical profile of a Miller–Urey-type prebiotic broth. We analyzed the broth composition using Gas Chromatography combined with Mass Spectroscopy (GC/MS). The results point towards strong compositional changes with the nature of the spark. Ammonia exhibited catalytic properties even with non-nitrogen-containing compounds. A more elevated temperature led to a higher variety of substances. We conclude that to reproduce such a broth as well as possible, all the studied parameters need to be tightly controlled, the most difficult and important being spark generation.
- Subjects
ELECTRIC spark; EXPERIMENTAL design; MASS spectrometry; HIGH temperatures; GAS chromatography
- Publication
Life (2075-1729), 2023, Vol 13, Issue 11, p2201
- ISSN
2075-1729
- Publication type
Article
- DOI
10.3390/life13112201