%0 Journal Article
%T Simulations of Prebiotic Chemistry under Post-Impact Conditions on Titan
%A Carol Turse
%A Johannes Leitner
%A Maria Firneis
%A Dirk Schulze-Makuch
%J Life
%D 2013
%I MDPI AG
%R 10.3390/life3040538
%X The problem of how life began can be considered as a matter of basic chemistry. How did the molecules of life arise from non-biological chemistry? Stanley Miller¡¯s famous experiment in 1953, in which he produced amino acids under simulated early Earth conditions, was a huge leap forward in our understanding of this problem. Our research first simulated early Earth conditions based on Miller¡¯s experiment and we then repeated the experiment using Titan post-impact conditions. We simulated conditions that could have existed on Titan after an asteroid strike. Specifically, we simulated conditions after a potential strike in the subpolar regions of Titan that exhibit vast methane-ethane lakes. If the asteroid or comet was of sufficient size, it would also puncture the icy crust and bring up some of the subsurface liquid ammonia-water mixture. Since, O¡¯Brian, Lorenz and Lunine showed that a liquid water-ammonia body could exist between about 10 2¨C10 4 years on Titan after an asteroid impact we modified our experimental conditions to include an ammonia-water mixture in the reaction medium. Here we report on the resulting amino acids found using the Titan post-impact conditions in a classical Miller experimental reaction set-up and how they differ from the simulated early Earth conditions.
%K prebiotic chemistry
%K Miller-Urey
%K Titan
%K amino acids
%U http://www.mdpi.com/2075-1729/3/4/538