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VI. RECOMMENDATIONS 



INTRODUCTION 



As a field of active scientific inquiry, the study of the origins of 

 life is clearly in its infancy. By its very nature, it is multidisciplinary, 

 requiring contributions from astronomers, biologists, chemists, 

 geologists, physicists, and many others. 



We have seen that the gaps in our knowledge of the steps from 

 the nonliving to the living are numerous. Among these gaps are 



(a) a solar system formation with its accumulation of raw materials, 



(b) the synthesis of the life-forming monomers, such as the amino 

 acids, nucleotides, and lipids, (c) the condensation of these mono- 

 mers into useful polymers such as proteins and nucleic acids, (d) the 

 sequestering of these materials into droplets of proteinoid or 

 membrane-like structures, and (e) the development of a chemical 

 memory (the genetic code) to pass on to the progeny the informa- 

 tion acquired. 



Throughout the text we have shown the partial answers to the 

 many questions we have asked about organic chemical evolution and 

 the origin of life, yet much remains to be learned. Thus, it behooves 

 us to identify those unanswered questions. The following discussions, 

 therefore, represent an attempt to identify these issues with the 

 provisions that (a) the compilation is not intended to be complete, 

 but rather, it represents important areas of future research identified 

 by a specific group of people, and (b) progress in any one of these 

 areas might change the whole direction of research in the field. 



Professor Harold Urey was a remarkable American 

 scientist who as much as any other man opened up 

 the field of origins of life to modern study. 



