To this end, we determine the survival of bases exposed to a high radiation field in aqueous solution and adsorbed in a clay mineral. The results showed the protection role of the clays toward ionizing radiation. Bases are able to resist radiation, while they are adsorbed in a clay mineral. This is a distinct advantage since the molecules that

were formed by ultraviolet MM-102 solubility dmso light, ionizing radiation, or electric discharges had to survive in order to interact with each other to form more complex molecules. This work was partially supported by PAPIT grant IN223406-3. Bernal, J.B. (1951). The Physical Basis of Life. Routledge and Kegan Paul, London. Miller, MK-0457 molecular weight S.L. and Orgel, L. (1974). The Origins of Life on Earth. Prentice-Hall, Inc., New Jersey. Negron-Mendoza, A. and Ramos-Bernal, S (2004). The role of clays in the origin of life. In Seckbach, J., editor, Origins: Genesis, evolution and diversity of life, pages 183–194. Kluwer Academic Publisher, Netherlands.

E-mail: negron@nucleares.​unam.​mx In Silico Prebiotic Chemistry: Aluminosilicate Surfaces As Promoters for the Peptide Bond Formation Piero Ugliengo1, Albert Rimola2, Mariona Sodupe2 1Dipartimento di Chimica I.F.M, NIS Centre of Excellence and INSTM National Consortium, Università degli Studi di Torino, via P. Giuria 7-10125 Torino, Italy; 2Departament de Química, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, click here Bellaterra 08193, Spain The route for which basic molecular MRIP building blocks such as amino acids and nucleobases were joined in a proper and controlled way in order to make the first active biopolymers during primitive Earth is an intriguing question that nowadays still remains open in the area of the prebiotic chemistry. Indeed, even for the condensation of glycine

(the simplest amino acid) the reaction occurring in highly diluted water solution is thermodynamically disfavoured. An early suggestion form Bernal in 1951 (Bernal, 1951) advocated the special role of mineral clays as promoters for the condensation of monomer building blocks since they provide adsorption sites that, on one hand, may immobilize, concentrate and protect amino acids and peptides from hydration and, on the other hand, may induce a lowering of the activation barrier because of the presence at the surface of catalytic active sites. Along this line, Orgel (Orgel, 1998) stated that successive cycles of condensation occurring on mineral surfaces causes elongation of the synthesized peptide which remains almost irreversibly adsorbed, so that its destructive hydrolysis, will become more and more improbable. In the present contribution, a detailed theoretical mechanistic study addressed to the peptide bond formation catalyzed by an aluminosilicates surface is presented.