Fixation and Evolution of Nitrogen Compounds on Mineral     Surfaces Under Archaean Ocean Conditions
{'Code': '06030107', 'Directorate': {'Abbreviation': 'GEO', 'LongName': 'Directorate For Geosciences'}, 'Division': {'Abbreviation': 'EAR', 'LongName': 'Division Of Earth Sciences'}}
{'SignBlockName': 'Felicia Fauntleroy', 'PO_EMAI': None, 'PO_PHON': None}
This project involves experimental studies of possible mechanisms               for the geochemical origin of RNA precursors.  Derivatives of                   hydrogen cyanide form the bases of RNA, whose origin is                         extrapolated to -4.3 billion years.  Several investigations have                shown pathways for purine and pyrimidine synthesis, which are                   viable, but only at relatively high reactant concentration in                   aqueous solution.  A crucial problem in applying these results to               prebiotic molecular evolution concerns the selective concentration              of the reactants from the dilute solution in which they probably                existed.  High concentrations must have been consistly maintained               in order to permit reactions leading to cyanide oligomers and to                the ordered heteropolymers that would have served as forerunners                for RNA.  Current experiments indicate that common transition                   element minerals under appropriate environmental modeling                       conditions are capable of photosynthesis of carboxylates, sorption              of cyanide against large concentration gradients, and                           immobilization of the polymeric reaction products.  The proposed                studies involve concentration of cyanide from extreme dilution by               sorption and intercalation in surface active transition element                 minerals, followed by spontaneous or photochemically induced                    oligomerization and condensation reactions to form potential                    mineral-organic hybrid precursors of the genome.
{'FirstName': 'Gustaf', 'LastName': 'Arrhenius', 'PI_MID_INIT': None, 'PI_SUFX_NAME': None, 'PI_FULL_NAME': 'Gustaf Arrhenius', 'EmailAddress': None, 'NSF_ID': '000456253', 'StartDate': '08/01/1988', 'EndDate': None, 'RoleCode': 'Principal Investigator'}
{'Name': 'University of California-San Diego Scripps Inst of Oceanography', 'CityName': 'LA JOLLA', 'ZipCode': '920931500', 'PhoneNumber': '8585341293', 'StreetAddress': '8622 DISCOVERY WAY # 116', 'StreetAddress2': None, 'CountryName': 'United States', 'StateName': 'California', 'StateCode': 'CA', 'CONGRESSDISTRICT': '50', 'CONGRESS_DISTRICT_ORG': 'CA50', 'ORG_UEI_NUM': 'QJ8HMDK7MRM3', 'ORG_LGL_BUS_NAME': 'UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA SAN DIEGO', 'ORG_PRNT_UEI_NUM': 'QJ8HMDK7MRM3'}
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{'Code': '1573', 'Text': 'Petrology and Geochemistry'}
{'url': 'https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/download?DownloadFileName=1987&All=true', 'xml': '8721219.xml'}