Posted: Feb 26, 2010 8:23 pm
Rawnaeris wrote:Personally I think it belongs here. I don't know very much about abiogenesis, but what little I do know argues for it to be Inorganic Chemistry.
Why inorganic? I agree with views that abiogenesis should be treated as a chemistry issue, and not just because it puts the smack-down on ignorant fundies, but most of the requisite molecules are considered organic molecules. The old habit of calling chemicals "organic" because they've originated from living cells has been largely discarded now. Methanol is organic whether it's a result of cellular metabolism or it was synthesized in a lab via the oxidation of natural gas (which can be of abiotic origin, though most of the concentrated deposits probably did result from methanogenic bacterial nomming).