Research on the Origin of Life: Membrane-Assisted Polycondensations of Amino Acids and Peptides

Abstract

The question as to whether and to what extent the phospholipid membrane of liposomes can assist in the polymerization of amino acids and peptides has been investigated. It has been found that the membrane can select hydrophobic amino acids and peptides, thus operating as a selection tool in the polymerization reaction and thus permitting the formation of oligopeptides not possible in water – in the absence of liposomes – as a result of the too low solubility.