Genesis: The Scientific Quest for Life's Origin

Life on Earth appeared nearly 4 billion years ago, an emergent consequence of properties and processes enabled by chemistry and physics - bursting forth from air, water, rock and the thermodynamics of nonequilibrium systems. The origins of life pose a mystery as deep as any question facing contemporary science. Intrepid researchers are taking increasingly bold steps in an ultimate adventure to understand how prebiotic chemical systems self-organized and crossed the threshold separating life from non-life on our barren young planet. Abiogenesis, the scientific quest for life's origin, is profoundly moving and brilliantly presented in this superb book. Author Robert Hazen exemplifies the intellect, insight, determination, and sense of adventure that scientists around the world utilize when seeking answers to life's most basic riddles. As a researcher in the Geophysical Laboratory at the Carnegie Institution in Washington, D.C., and the Clarence Robinson Professor of Earth History at George Mason University, Hazen has spent many years researching the fundamental mechanisms nature utilized to realize life's genesis. His impressive laboratory research has choreographed the spellbinding sequence of events that synthesized many of the essential carbon-based macromolecules that acted as the components and scaffolding from which life emerged. By subjecting simple and abundant chemicals to the high temperatures and crushing pressures encountered near deep ocean vents, Hazen hypothesis that life may well have begun in such an environment - facilitated and nourished by a teeming mixture of catalytic minerals and organic compounds energized by abundant geotectonic forces. Other scientists believe that life originated on Earth's surface where ocean waves repeatedly lapped vesicle laden rocky shorelines as solar energy and evaporation organized and sequestered prebiotic building blocks. Given our current state of knowledge theories abound, but Hazen is a perspicacious guide who illuminates all of the pathways scientists have proposed as tentative first steps towards life. "Genesis: The Scientific Quest for Life's Origins" moves beyond the laboratory and into the field to meet key players, witness the debates, and participate in the discoveries and disappointments that are leading inexorably to a plausible explanation for the momentous beginning of life. Theories of emergence and complexity are poised to answer a multitude of issues - even as they raise the possibility that natural processes exist beyond what we now know, or even imagine. Genesis tells the tale of a transforming scientific adventure in our search for life's origins. This is a profound and numinous book aimed directly at the heart of who we are and how we came to be - it has my highest recommendation. Buy two copies, one for yourself, the second for a friend. Iris Fry's The Emergence of Life on Earth: A Historical and Scientific Overview is also excellent, and Life on a Young Plane

Hazen's book "Gen-e-sis" is much like Ward's new one, "Life as We do Not Know It," which I read at the same time. In fact, the two authors are so similar in their interests and goals I was surprised that neither mentioned the other by name. Hazen's style is more direct, while Ward's is a little more playful. While Ward's emphasis is definitely the search for extraterrestrial life and discusses planetary potentials, Hazen's has a greater focus on what it took to have developed it here in the first place and discusses the details of origin research. "Gen-e-sis" is a good source for the who, what, when, where, why and how of origin science. It is an up to date compendium of what is known about modern microscopic life and the systems that it uses. More importantly for the student interested in the topic, he provides a very good description of the equipment, techniques, and personal characteristics of the researchers doing this type of work. The book would be a very good addition to a high school library, not only in its capacity as a reference on origin of life research, but for the information on the occupation of bioscience researcher. The author approaches his topic by examining the issues of how life arose from non-life and which of several issues was solved first: cellular segregation of "outside" from "inside," metabolism, or replication. These points are not necessarily clear to most of us. We are ourselves and live with other organisms of great complexity, not only with respect to internal organization but with respect to inter-species organization in the natural ecology of our environment. In short life on the planet has become so elaborate that it almost seems impossible that it could ever have been simpler even at the level of single cells. Dr. Hazen explores the current research into the ubiquity of biomolecules, how they might arise spontaneously, how they survive under different conditions, and how they might congregate into larger molecules. I found especially interesting the discussion of the spontaneous self-aggregation of lipid membranes from molecules with hydrophilic and hydrophobic ends. Certainly the formation of double layers of these molecules into more cellular like membranes in laboratory settings was amazing. He also discusses the RNA and DNA `worlds' and the possibility that protein or other catalytic molecules might have performed the function of replicators and metabolizers until the more complex systems used by modern life arose to take over the functions. He discusses the now rather old notion of a clay world, proposed originally by Cairns-Smith. Here clays of various types are believed to have served as templates for the natural aggregation of organic molecules which later became independent of their clay "parents" by replicating themselves. This theory still has an undeniable fascination. The possibility that rock pores might have served as the original cell "membranes" is also intriguing alon

+++++ This book, by scientist Dr. Robert Hazen, in a nutshell explores the concept of emergence and the origin of life in a way that has never before been attempted. (Emergence is the opposite of reductionism, the view that any system can be explained by understanding its parts.) Or to put the aim of this book in question format: How did non-living chemicals become alive? What happened in 100 million years that led to the origin of life? Hazen explains a major objective of his book: "To describe our present imperfect state of understanding--and to offer a conceptually simple scenario [or theory] for life's chemical origins. This theory synthesizes two fundamental frontier efforts: the mind-expanding theoretical field of emergence and the astonishing experimental discoveries in prebiotic [that is, before life] chemistry [some made by Hazen himself]." Thus the parts or sections that make up this well-written, easy-to-read, and somewhat personal book are presented in the following logical sequence: (1) Emergence and the origin of life. (Answers, among other things, the question: "How does one begin to tackle the chemical complexity of life?") (2) The emergence of biomolecules (such as amino acids, sugars, hydrocarbons, and nucleic acids). (3) The emergence of macromolecules (such as carbohydrates, proteins, DNA, and RNA). (4) The emergence of self-replicating systems. ("For origin-of-life researchers, creating a self-replicating molecular system in a test tube has become the experimental Holy Grail.") Don't worry! The science presented in this book is presented well and Hazen explains any unfamiliar terms. For those familiar with the origin of life literature (like myself), they will find some of this book a review but I found there was new stuff presented that I had not read before. Be aware that this book does not present definitive answers. Hazen elaborates: "Life emerged...through some real process. Molecules formed, they combined, they began to replicate. Much of that history is...lost forever. We will never know exactly where or when the first living entity arose, nor is it likely that every chemical detail of the process will ever be known for certain. Scientists flesh out the process with their own favorite origin stories...And even if we do succeed in making life in the lab, there's no guarantee that that's exactly the way it happened 4 billion years ago." Between each of the four sections presented above, there is a short "interlude" where Hazen presents his opinions on various topics. I especially found the interlude entitled "God in the Gaps" interesting. Finally, in the book's middle are eight plates comprising almost thirty black and white pictures of mostly the main people involved in origin of life research. As well, there are more than twenty diagrams peppered throughout the book to enhance understanding. In conclusion, this book traces the efforts of scientists from all over the world as they confront nat

This book is a fine overview of the scientific "origins" puzzle. It is not a biology book, but a book about how biology might come to be. Hazen provides a theoretical framework and covers the emergence of organic molecules, biological polymers and replicating systems while telling the friendly, personal stories of his own research. Hazen does a good job of presenting the facts while making it clear that there is much that is speculative about the field. An excellent book for most of us who are not familiar with the science; well-referenced enough, including references to primary scientific journals, to provide a gateway for those who want to learn more. Not intended for those who know a lot about the issues already, and perhaps a little too chatty for my personal taste, but an easy and enjoyable read.

I found this a refreshing account of origins of life research. In some ways the question of evolution is so hounded by the obsessions of Darwinist and Intelligent Design fanatics both that it is nice to find a biology text on evolution (and this is indirectly a question of evolution) that plainly explains what we don't know, and proceeds to explore an immensely difficult subject. There is an ironic critique of Intelligent Design here. You can't really succumb to the design cop out because you would still have to explain everything anyway, as here. And that requires patient science for what is not a simple riddle. The keynote perspective here is that of emergence as a new category standing in counterpoint to the laws of thermodynamics.