Scientists Say Humans May Have Come from CLAY
The latest theory is that clay – which is at its most basic, a combination of minerals in the ground – acts as a breeding laboratory for tiny molecules and chemicals which it ‘absorbs like a sponge’.
The process takes billions of years, during which the chemicals react to each other to form proteins, DNA and, eventually, living cells, scientists told the journal Scientific Reports.
Biological Engineers from Cornell University’s department for Nanoscale Science in New York state believe clay ‘might have been the birthplace of life on Earth’.
It is a theory dating back thousands of years in many cultures, though perhaps not using the same scientific explanation.
In religious texts, including the Holy Quran, God moulds clay into the shape of man and then breathes life into him.
In seawater, clay forms a hydrogel – a mass of tiny spaces which soak up other minerals, chemicals and tiny molecules from its surrounding area.
Professor Dan Luo of Cornell said: ‘In early geological history clay hydrogel provided a confinement function for biomolecules and biochemical reactions.
‘Over billions of years, chemicals confined in those spaces could have carried out the complex reactions that formed proteins, DNA and eventually all the machinery that makes a living cell work.’
The conclusions are based on experiments by the researchers using synthetic hydrogels, adding DNA, amino acids and enzymes and simulating the production of proteins.
While it may be one theory on the creation of life on Earth, it may also have modern and money saving applications for drug manufacturing.
The report added: ‘Why consider clay? It’s dirt cheap. Better yet, it turned out unexpectedly
that using clay enhanced protein production.’
Source: Muslim Village
