Carbon spheres and tubes form readily under a variety of physical-chemical conditions. They can mimic elementary life forms as well as fossilized organisms. However, they may still be connected to living systems either as proto- structures for future life or as rudimentary forms of past life. This paper suggests that carbon frameworks allow by virtue of their scaffolding properties the self-assembly to expanded structures, eventually leading to biosystems such as simple viruses and other microorganisms. This development is not limited to terrestrial environments, although solvents molecules such as water and coordinating metal ions are essential vehicles for morphogenesis.

Date Published: 30 December 1999
PDF: 9 pages
Proc. SPIE 3755, Instruments, Methods, and Missions for Astrobiology II, (30 December 1999); doi: 10.1117/12.375067

Published in SPIE Proceedings Vol. 3755:
Instruments, Methods, and Missions for Astrobiology II
Richard B. Hoover, Editor(s)