The Fire Down Below: Extreme Heat-Loving Organisms May Be Keys To Molecular,,Evolution, Origin Of Life, New B...( th temperatures of hyperthermophiles. ...)

"Today we know that such extrapolations into the distant past merit considerable caution," they wrote. "We are far from understanding the origin and characteristics of the first living beings, which may have lacked even the most familiar features found in extant cells . . ."

Dr. Patrick Forterre of the University of Paris-South agrees, claiming that the hot-origin-of-life scenario has an Achilles heel and should be investigated much more before being accepted by the scientific community. Others, such as Dr. John Baross of the University of Washington, feel that strong evidence exists in the geological record to support a thermophilic theory of origins.

Dr. Gnter Wchtershuser from Germany writes what Wiegel calls "an elegant and stimulating chapter," arguing for a hyperthermophilic origin of life in an iron-sulfur primordial world. He proposes that life began with metabolism on surfaces.

While scientists debate the issues surrounding thermophiles, businesses are clearly finding the heat-loving bacteria useful. From detergents to industrial-scale applications, thermophiles are the darlings of numerous new processes, and their value as catalysts is growing almost by the day.

"A hyperthermophilic origin for life on this planet is not universally accepted," said Adams and Wiegel in their preface for the book. "What one can conclude from this collection of chapters is that answering such fundamental questions as how life first originated and whether it did so under high-temperature conditions requires insight and perspective from a range of disciplines."

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Contact: Phil Williams
philwpio@arches.uga.edu
706-542-8501
University of Georgia
10-Nov-1998