Читать книгу Astrobiology - Charles S. Cockell - Страница 34

At the heart of our understanding of physical processes in the Universe, including the principles that govern the assembly of life, is our knowledge about the structure of matter. The structure of matter, including the interactions of atoms and molecules, may not seem to be directly linked to astrobiology. However, to understand how the molecules of life are assembled, we need to understand how atoms associate and the types of associations that occur. Ultimately, it is the binding between individual atoms, ions, and molecules that results in the complex array of structures we call life.

Knowledge of the structure of matter can also provide us with a basis to question how universal the characteristics of life might be. Are all living things, if they exist elsewhere, made in the same way?

A grasp of the structure of matter is also enormously helpful for understanding why biological systems are constructed in particular ways. Why don't organisms make widespread use of solid metals in their assembly? How does a gecko attach to a window? How are the two strands of the genetic material DNA put together? These questions, which might seem detached and even obscure, will be answered by the end of this chapter. You will discover that what unites these questions is an understanding of the bonding between atoms, ions, and molecules, and how those bonds are used to perform certain tasks in living things.

The application of this information to astrobiology is that it allows you to go beyond what seem to be parochial Earth-based questions into the underlying principles that govern living things.