Molecular Imprinting: The missing piece in the puzzle of abiogenesis?

TL;DR

This paper revisits molecular imprinting as a key mechanism in abiogenesis, proposing imprint-mediated templating (IMT) for peptide replication compatible with realistic prebiotic chemistries, potentially explaining early genetic and metabolic emergence.

Contribution

It introduces IMT as a novel prebiotic peptide replication mechanism that addresses limitations of traditional RNA and metabolism-first models.

Findings

IMT could enable peptide-based heredity in prebiotic conditions

Peptide/IMT models align with known prebiotic chemistries

Potential to explain homochirality and bridge to nucleic acids

Abstract

In a neglected 2005 paper, Nobel Laureate Paul Lauterbur proposed that molecular imprinting in amorphous materials -- a phenomenon with an extensive experimental literature -- played a key role in abiogenesis. The present paper builds on Lauterbur's idea to propose imprint-mediated templating (IMT), a mechanism for prebiotic peptide replication that could potentially avoid a range of difficulties arising in classic gene-first and metabolism-first models of abiogenesis. Unlike models that propose prebiotic RNA synthesis, activation, and polymerization based on unknown chemistries, peptide/IMT models are compatible with demonstrably realistic prebiotic chemistries: synthesis of dilute mixtures of racemic amino acids from atmospheric gases, and polymerization of unactivated amino acids on hot, intermittently-wetted surfaces. Starting from a peptide/IMT-based genetics, plausible processes could support the elaboration of genetic and metabolic complexity in an early-Earth environment, both explaining the emergence of homochirality and providing a potential bridge to nucleic acid metabolism. Peptide/IMT models suggest directions for both theoretical and experimental inquiry.