512 Annals New York Academy of Sciences 



The observed properties of the resistant material can be compared with proper- 

 ties of biological compounds as well as with those of various synthetic materials 

 including polypeptide particles prepared by Fox^'' and hydrocarbon polymer 

 particles prepared by Wilson. ^^ It is evident from their work as well as that 

 of Miller,"^ '^^ Palm and Calvin/- '^^ Or6,-° Berger'-^ and others that complex 

 organic materials can be prepared through nonbiological processes. 



This approach assumes to some extent at least that extraterrestrial life re- 

 sembles terrestrial life chemically. This may be a provincial idea, but com- 

 parison of unknown materials with terrestrial forms would seem to be a good 

 starting place. It may be that even after this information is gathered and 

 analyzed, no detinite conclusions can be drawn. However, this information 

 should provide a broader basis for critical evaluation than morphology alone. 



Summary 



"Organized elements" described by Claus and Nagy^ and by Nagy et air 

 are a heterogeneous group of particles which, in our opinion, are best classified 

 into two types: those that have a highly structured morphology and those 

 that have a much simpler appearance. The particles with highly structured 

 morphology are less numerous than the simpler type. They have not been 

 seen in thin sections and many appear to have a strong resemblance to com- 

 mon terrestrial contaminants. The particles of simpler morphology which 

 do not fluoresce, which either do not stain or stain atypically with biological 

 stains, and which are soluble in acids seem to be of an inorganic composition 

 and origin. It is possible that life did exist in meteorites, but we think that 

 the present evidence is not adequate to suggest an extraterrestrial biological 

 origin for the particles found in the carbonaceous chondrites. 



A cknowledgments 



The authors express their gratitude to the Argonne Cancer Research Hospital 

 for allowing the use of its facilities for some of the experiments, and to the 

 staff of the Allergy Laboratory of the Jewish Hospital of Brooklyn for the loan 

 of pollen slides. We are also indebted to Dr. George Claus and Prof. Bartholo- 

 mew Nagy for permission to study and photograph their samples, in exchange 

 for our preparations which they described in reference 2. 



This work was supported in part by the U.S. Atomic Energy Commission. 



References 



1. Claus, G. & B. Nagy. 1961. A microbiological examination of some carbonaceous 



chondrites. Nature. 192: 594. 



2. Nagy, B., G. Claus & D. J. Hennessy. 1962. Organic particles embedded in minerals 



in the Orgueil and Ivuna carbonaceous chondrites. Nature. 193: 1129. 



3. Fitch, F., H. P. Schwarcz & E. Anders. 1962. "Organized elements" in carbona- 



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4. DuFresne, E. R. & E. Anders. 1962. On the chemical evolution of the carbonaceous 



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