课题组人员证明了行星有机雾化学产生一系列含硫生物分子，包括半胱氨酸、辅酶M、牛磺酸，以及潜在的蛋氨酸和同型半胱氨酸。这些化合物可能在大气高层形成，并随后沉积到早期的地表环境中，其数量足以支持萌芽中的全球生物圈。他们的发现挑战了长期以来的假设，即半胱氨酸等硫生物分子是生物学上的“发明”。
据悉，在温和和全球相关的条件下，非生物生产含硫生物分子一直是益生元化学实验中的一个重要课题。结果，在对生命起源的理解与生物进化的后期阶段之间出现了脱节；前者可能独立于硫而发生，而后者则普遍依赖于硫。
附：英文原文
Title: An Archean atmosphere rich in sulfur biomolecules
Author: Reed, Nathan W., Christensen, Cade M., Surratt, Jason D., McGlynn, Shawn Erin, Wing, Boswell A., Neubauer, Cajetan, Tolbert, Margaret A., Browne, Eleanor C.
Issue&Volume: 2025-12-1
Abstract: The abiotic production of sulfur-containing biomolecules under mild and globally relevant conditions has been an elusive endeavor in prebiotic chemistry experiments. As a result, a disconnect has emerged between understanding the origins of life and the later stages of biological evolution; the former potentially occurred independent of sulfur while the latter is universally dependent on it. Here, we demonstrate that planetary organic haze chemistry produces a suite of sulfur biomolecules including cysteine, coenzyme M, taurine, and potentially methionine and homocysteine. These compounds may form high in the atmosphere and subsequently deposit to early surface environments in sufficient amounts to support a budding global biosphere. Our findings thus challenge long-standing assumptions that sulfur biomolecules such as cysteine must have been biological “inventions.”
DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2516779122
Source: https://www.pnas.org/doi/abs/10.1073/pnas.2516779122