Possible origin of life between mica sheets

Abstract

The mica hypothesis is a new hypothesis about how life might have originated. The mica hypothesis provides simple solutions to many basic questions about the origins of life. In the mica hypothesis, the spaces between mica sheets functioned as the earliest cells. These 'cells' between mica sheets are filled with potassium ions, and they provide an environment in which: polymer entropy is low; cyclic wetting and drying can occur; molecules can evolve in isolated spaces and also migrate and ligate to form larger molecules. The mica hypothesis also proposes that mechanical energy (work) is a major energy source that could have been used on many length scales to form covalent bonds, to alter polymer conformations, and to bleb daughter cells off protocells. The mica hypothesis is consistent with many other origins hypotheses, including the RNA, lipid, and metabolic 'worlds'. Therefore the mica hypothesis has the potential to unify origins hypotheses, such that different molecular components and systems could simultaneously evolve in the spaces between mica sheets.