Better read the final study in that list. Here's a highlight:
Here, we report an experimental work, combined with state-of-the-art computational methods, in which both electric discharge and laser-driven plasma impact simulations were carried out in a reducing atmosphere containing NH3 + CO. We show that RNA nucleobases are synthesized in these experiments, strongly supporting the possibility of the emergence of biologically relevant molecules in a reducing atmosphere.
Cribbing from
Phys.org's article on the study and experiment:
The results of the experiment demonstrated that all RNA nucleobases were synthesized, strongly supporting the emergence of biologically relevant chemicals in a reducing atmosphere.
In their paper, the authors write, "As the most important finding, discharge treatment of NH3 + CO + H2O led to the formation of a significant amount of formamide and hydrogen cyanide (HCN)." This result is key, as formamide has been experimentally shown to create guanine, an RNA nucleobase, at high temperatures under ultraviolet light.
"Additionally," the authors write, "we detected all of the RNA canonical nucleobases—uracil, cytosine, adenine and guanine—together with urea and the simplest amino acid, glycine… these findings support the idea that a NH3 + CO + H2O atmosphere can substitute for pure formamide and act as a starting environment not only for the formation of amino acids, but also of RNA nucleobases."
The researchers also demonstrated that any nucleic acid base can be decomposed to a reducing gaseous atmosphere by electric discharges in the presence of water, and these gases can react in turn to produce all the RNA nucleobases. They also note that their results do not preclude other scenarios, but demonstrate that multiple pathways to the production of RNA nucleobases are possible.
Theoretical still, but strong supporting evidence for an abiotic origin of life.
The funny thing is, I was actually looking for a DIFFERENT study on M-U experiments and RNA production and found the more recent research by accident. I've since found the paper I was looking for (
Nucleobases and amino acids formation through impacts of meteorites on the early ocean), which argues this:
Here, we report on the simultaneous formation of nucleobases (cytosine and uracil) found in DNA and/or RNA, various proteinogenic amino acids (glycine, alanine, serine, aspartic acid, glutamic acid, valine, leucine, isoleucine, and proline), non-proteinogenic amino acids, and aliphatic amines in experiments simulating reactions induced by extraterrestrial objects impacting on the early oceans...
...the present results expand the possibility that impact-induced reactions generated various building blocks for life on prebiotic Earth in large quantities through the use of terrestrial carbon reservoirs
That's the problem with the 'god of the gaps' type arguments (we don't know how X occurred, therefor God). God keeps getting pushed backwards into smaller and smaller pockets of ignorance.
