G nter W chtersh user

Günter Wächtershäuser, a chemist turned patent lawyer, is mainly known for his groundbreaking and influential work on the origin of life, and in particular his "iron-sulphur world theory", a theory that life on Earth had hydrothermal origins. The theory is consistent with the hypothesis that life originated near submerged hydrothermal vents.

Biographical background

Dr Wächtershäuser, a chemist by training, has been an international patent lawer in Munich since 1970. He has published numerous articles in organic chemistry, genetic engineering and patent law, and has made at least two significant contributions to evolutionary theory: the origins of perception and cognition, and the origin of life.

"Metabolism first"

One of the key ideas advanced by Wächtershäuser is that an early form of metabolism predated genetics. Metabolism here means a cycle of chemical reactions that produce energy in a form that can be harnessed by other processes. The idea is that once a primitive metabolic cycle was established, it began to produce ever more complex compounds.

Wächtershäuser has hypothesized a special role for acetic acid, a simple combination of carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen found in vinegar. Acetic acid is part of the citric acid cycle that is fundamental to metabolism in cells.

A blueprint for life

Some of the fundamental ideas can be summarized in the following brief recipe for life:

"Boil water. Stir in iron sulfide and nickel sulfide. Bubble in carbon monoxide and rotten egg gas. Wait for peptides to form."

More technically, Wächtershäuser hypothesized the following steps for producing proteins:

1. Produce acetic acid through metallic ion catalysis.
2. Add carbon to the acetic acid molecule to produce three-carbon pyruvic acid.
3. Add ammonia to form amino acids.
4. Produce peptides and then proteins.

Both acetic acid and pyruvic acid are key chemicals in the citric acid cycle.

In 1997, Wächtershäuser and Claudia Huber mixed carbon monoxide, hydrogen sulfide, nickel sulfide, and iron sulfide particles at 100°C and demonstrated that amino acids could form. The following year, using the same ingredients, they were able to produce peptides.

Awards

In 1993 Dr Wächtershäuser received the annual award of the Bavarian Academy of Sciences and the following year he was made an honorary professor at the University of Regensburg.

Quotations

• “According to my theory, you can imagine life forms continuously, even today.”

References

• G. Wächtershäuser, "Origin of Life: Life as We Don't Know It", Science, 289 (5483) (25 Aug 2000) pp. 1307-1308. [1] (http://ajdubre.tripod.com/Sci-Read-0/y-OriginLife-82500/OriginLifeSci-82500.html)

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