DNA and the origins of life in micaceous clay.

Reproducible imaging of DNA by atomic force microscopy was a useful predecessor to Ned Seeman's DNA nanotechnology. Many of the products of DNA nanotechnology were imaged in the atomic force microscope. The mica substrate used in this atomic force microscopy research formed the inspiration for the hypothesis that micaceous clay was a likely habitat for the origins of life.

Correction: Hansma, H.G. Potassium at the Origins of Life: Did Biology Emerge from Biotite in Micaceous Clay? 2022, , 301.

The author wishes to make the following correction to this paper [...

Potassium at the Origins of Life: Did Biology Emerge from Biotite in Micaceous Clay?

Intracellular potassium concentrations, [K], are high in all types of living cells, but the origins of this K are unknown. The simplest hypothesis is that life emerged in an environment that was high in K. One such environment is the spaces between the sheets of the clay mineral mica.

Better than Membranes at the Origin of Life?

Organelles without membranes are found in all types of cells and typically contain RNA and protein. RNA and protein are the constituents of ribosomes, one of the most ancient cellular structures. It is reasonable to propose that organelles without membranes preceded protocells and other membrane-bound structures at the origins of life.

The power of crowding for the origins of life.

Molecular crowding increases the likelihood that life as we know it would emerge. In confined spaces, diffusion distances are shorter, and chemical reactions produce fewer and more regular products. Crowding will occur in the spaces between Muscovite mica sheets, which has many advantages as a site for life's origins.