How Long can Left and Right Handed Life Forms Coexist?

Details How Long can Left and Right Handed Life Forms Coexist? How Long can Left and Right Handed Life Forms Coexist?

2004-07-05

arxiv.org/abs/q-bio/0407008v1

Int.J.Astrobiol. 3 (2004) 209-219

Biology

Quantitative Biology

Biomolecules

submitted to Int. J. Astrobiol., 15 pages, 10 figs. submitted to Int. J. Astrobiol., 15 pages, 10 figs

Scientific paper

10.1017/S1473550404001983

Reaction-diffusion equations based on a polymerization model are solved to simulate the spreading of hypothetic left and right handed life forms on the Earth's surface. The equations exhibit front-like behavior as is familiar from the theory of the spreading of epidemics. It is shown that the relevant time scale for achieving global homochirality is not, however, the time scale of front propagation, but the much longer global diffusion time. The process can be sped up by turbulence and large scale flows. It is speculated that, if the deep layers of the early ocean were sufficiently quiescent, there may have been the possibility of competing early life forms with opposite handedness.

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