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Endogenous amino acid production

Miller’s spark

Seventy years ago, Stanley L. Miller described the synthesis of amino acids from a simple mixture of gases, spurring investigations into the chemical origins of life. Here we discuss the rise, fall and renaissance of endogenous amino acid production.

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Fig. 1: Proton irradiation of a simulated early Earth atmosphere in a modern version of Miller’s experiment.

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Correspondence to Kensei Kobayashi.

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Kobayashi, K., Kebukawa, Y. Miller’s spark. Nat Rev Chem 7, 598–599 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41570-023-00530-w

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