{"305121":{"#nid":"305121","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Stanley Miller\u2019s Forgotten Experiments, Analyzed","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EStanley Miller, the chemist whose landmark experiment published in 1953 showed how some of the molecules of life could have formed on a young Earth, left behind boxes of experimental samples that he never analyzed. The first-ever analysis of some of Miller\u2019s old samples has revealed another way that important molecules could have formed on early Earth.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe study discovered a path from simple to complex compounds amid Earth\u2019s prebiotic soup. More than 4 billion years ago, amino acids could have been attached together, forming peptides. These peptides ultimately may have led to the proteins and enzymes necessary for life\u2019s biochemistry, as we know it.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EIn the new study, scientists analyzed samples from an experiment Miller performed in 1958. To the reaction flask, Miller added a chemical that at the time wasn\u2019t widely thought to have been available on early Earth. The reaction had successfully formed peptides, the new study found. The new study also successfully replicated the experiment and explained why the reaction works.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cIt was clear that the results from this old experiment weren\u2019t some sort of artifact. They were real,\u201d said \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/scrippsscholars.ucsd.edu\/jbada\u0022\u003EJeffrey Bada\u003C\/a\u003E, distinguished professor of marine chemistry at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography at the UC San Diego. Bada was a former student and colleague of Miller\u2019s.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe study was supported by the Center for Chemical Evolution at the Georgia Institute of Technology, which is jointly supported by the National Science Foundation and the NASA Astrobiology Program. The study was published online June 25 in the journal \u003Cem\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/onlinelibrary.wiley.com\/doi\/10.1002\/anie.201403683\/abstract\u0022\u003EAngewandte Chemie International Edition\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/em\u003E.The work was primarily a collaboration between UC San Diego and the Georgia Institute of Technology in Atlanta. Eric Parker, the study\u2019s lead author, was an undergraduate student in Bada\u2019s laboratory and is now a graduate student at Georgia Tech.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EJeffrey Bada was Stanley Miller\u2019s second graduate student. The two were close and collaborated throughout Miller\u2019s career. After Miller suffered a severe stroke in 1999, Bada inherited boxes of experimental samples from Miller\u2019s lab. While sorting through the boxes, Bada saw \u201celectric discharge sample\u201d in Miller\u2019s handwriting on the outside of one box.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cI opened it up and inside were all these other little boxes,\u201d Bada said. \u201cI started looking at them, and realized they were from all his original experiments; the ones he did in 1953 that he wrote the famous paper in \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.sciencemag.org\/content\/117\/3046\/528\u0022\u003E\u003Cem\u003EScience\u003C\/em\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E on, plus a whole assortment of others related to that. It\u2019s something that should rightfully end up in the Smithsonian.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe boxes of unanalyzed samples had been preserved and carefully marked, down to the page number where the experiment was described in Miller\u2019s laboratory notebooks. The researchers verified that the contents of the box of samples were from an electric discharge experiment conducted with cyanamide in 1958 when Miller was at the Department of Biochemistry at the College of Physicians and Surgeons, Columbia University.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EAn electric discharge experiment simulates early Earth conditions using relatively simple starting materials. The reaction is ignited by a spark, simulating lightning, which was likely very common on the early Earth.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe 1958 reaction samples were analyzed by Parker and his current mentor, \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/ww2.chemistry.gatech.edu\/fernandez\/\u0022\u003EFacundo M. Fern\u00e1ndez\u003C\/a\u003E, a professor in the School of Chemistry and Biochemistry at Georgia Tech. They conducted liquid chromatography- and mass spectrometry-based analyses and found that the reaction samples from 1958 contained peptides. Scientists from NASA\u2019s Johnson Space Center and Goddard Space Flight Center were also involved in the analysis.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe research team then set out to replicate the experiment. Parker designed a way to do the experiment using modern equipment and confirmed that the reaction created peptides.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cWhat we found were some of the same products of polymerization that we found in the original samples,\u201d Parker said. \u201cThis corroborated the data that we collected from analyzing the original samples.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EIn the experiment from 1958, Stanley Miller had the idea to use the organic compound cyanamide in the reaction.\u0026nbsp; Scientists had previously thought that the reaction with cyanamide would work only in acidic conditions, which likely wasn\u2019t widely available on early Earth. The new study showed that reactive intermediates produced during the synthesis of amino acids enhanced peptide formation under the basic conditions associated with the spark discharge experiment.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cWhat we\u2019ve done is shown that you don\u2019t need acid conditions; you just need to have the intermediates involved in amino acid synthesis there, which is very reasonable,\u201d Bada said.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EWhy Miller added cyanamide to the reaction will probably never be known. Bada can only speculate. In 1958, Miller was at Columbia University in New York City. Researchers at both Columbia and the close-by Rockefeller Institute were at the center of studies on how to analyze and make peptides and proteins in the lab, which had been demonstrated for the first time in 1953 (the same year that Miller published his famous origin of life paper). Perhaps while having coffee with colleagues someone suggested that cyanamide \u2013 a chemical used in the production of pharmaceuticals \u2013 might have been available on the early Earth and might help make peptides if added to Miller\u2019s reaction.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cEverybody who would have been there and could verify this is gone, so we\u2019re just left to scratch our heads and say \u2018how\u2019d he get this idea before anyone else,\u2019\u201d Bada said.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe latest study is part of an ongoing analysis of Stanley Miller\u2019s old experiments. In 2008\u003Cstrong\u003E, \u003C\/strong\u003Ethe research team found samples from 1953 that showed a \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov\/pubmed\/18927386\u0022\u003Emuch more efficient synthesis\u003C\/a\u003E than Stanley published in \u003Cem\u003EScience\u003C\/em\u003E in 1953. In 2011, the researchers analyzed a 1958 \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov\/pubmed\/21422282\u0022\u003Eexperiment that used hydrogen sulfide\u003C\/a\u003E as a gas in the electric discharge experiment. The reactions produced a more diverse array of amino acids that had been synthesized in Miller\u2019s famous 1953 study. Eric Parker was the lead author on the 2011 study.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cIt\u2019s been an amazing opportunity to work with a piece of scientific history,\u201d Parker said.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cem\u003EThis research is supported by the Center for Chemical Evolution at the Georgia Institute of Technology, which is jointly supported by the National Science Foundation and the NASA Astrobiology Program under award number NSF CHE-1004570. Any conclusions or opinions are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent the official views of the sponsoring agencies.\u003C\/em\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003ECITATION\u003C\/strong\u003E: Eric T. Parker, et al., \u201cA Plausible Simultaneous Synthesis of Amino Acids and Simple Peptides on the Primordial Earth.\u201d (\u003Cem\u003EAngewandte Chemie\u003C\/em\u003E, June 2014). \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/dx.doi.org\/10.1002\/anie.201403683\u0022\u003Ehttp:\/\/dx.doi.org\/10.1002\/anie.201403683\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EResearch News\u003Cbr \/\u003E Georgia Institute of Technology\u003Cbr \/\u003E 177 North Avenue\u003Cbr \/\u003E Atlanta, Georgia\u0026nbsp; 30332-0181\u0026nbsp; USA\u003Cbr \/\u003E \u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/twitter.com\/GTResearchNews\u0022\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003E@GTResearchNews\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EMedia Relations Contacts\u003C\/strong\u003E: Brett Israel (\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/twitter.com\/btiatl\u0022\u003E@btiatl\u003C\/a\u003E) (404-385-1933) (\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:brett.israel@comm.gatech.edu\u0022\u003Ebrett.israel@comm.gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E) or John Toon (404-894-6986) (\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:jtoon@gatech.edu\u0022\u003Ejtoon@gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E)\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EWriter\u003C\/strong\u003E: Brett Israel\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EStanley Miller, the chemist whose landmark experiment published in 1953 showed how some of the molecules of life could have formed on a young Earth, left behind boxes of experimental samples that he never analyzed. The first-ever analysis of some of Miller\u2019s old samples has revealed another way that important molecules could have formed on early Earth.\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"The first-ever analysis of some of Stanley Miller\u2019s old samples has revealed another way that important molecules could have formed on early Earth."}],"uid":"27902","created_gmt":"2014-06-25 13:09:26","changed_gmt":"2016-10-08 03:16:41","author":"Brett Israel","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2014-06-25T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2014-06-25T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"305081":{"id":"305081","type":"image","title":"Stanley Miller\u0027s 1958 experimental samples","body":null,"created":"1449244637","gmt_created":"2015-12-04 15:57:17","changed":"1475895012","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:50:12","alt":"Stanley Miller\u0027s 1958 experimental samples","file":{"fid":"199677","name":"siocomm_a_bada_cyanamide_014.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/siocomm_a_bada_cyanamide_014_0.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/siocomm_a_bada_cyanamide_014_0.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":495969,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/siocomm_a_bada_cyanamide_014_0.jpg?itok=uhyGpTGx"}},"305091":{"id":"305091","type":"image","title":"Spark discharge experiment","body":null,"created":"1449244637","gmt_created":"2015-12-04 15:57:17","changed":"1475895012","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:50:12","alt":"Spark discharge experiment","file":{"fid":"199678","name":"spark_close_up_pic_jpeg_2.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/spark_close_up_pic_jpeg_2_0.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/spark_close_up_pic_jpeg_2_0.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":228607,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/spark_close_up_pic_jpeg_2_0.jpg?itok=gnlwzZj3"}},"305101":{"id":"305101","type":"image","title":"Stanley Miller","body":null,"created":"1449244637","gmt_created":"2015-12-04 15:57:17","changed":"1475895012","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:50:12","alt":"Stanley Miller","file":{"fid":"199679","name":"miller.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/miller_0.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/miller_0.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":339136,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/miller_0.jpg?itok=CqB0gVYj"}}},"media_ids":["305081","305091","305101"],"groups":[{"id":"1188","name":"Research Horizons"}],"categories":[{"id":"141","name":"Chemistry and Chemical Engineering"},{"id":"146","name":"Life Sciences and Biology"}],"keywords":[{"id":"109501","name":"amino acids"},{"id":"10339","name":"center for chemical evolution"},{"id":"109511","name":"molecules of life"},{"id":"171338","name":"Stanley Miller"}],"core_research_areas":[{"id":"39441","name":"Bioengineering and Bioscience"}],"news_room_topics":[{"id":"71881","name":"Science and Technology"}],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EBrett Israel\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E404-385-1933\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:brett.israel@comm.gatech.edu\u0022\u003Ebrett.israel@comm.gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["brett.israel@comm.gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}}}