The Problem of the Origin of the Proteins 285 



are capable of autoduplication in the presence of substance with low molecular 

 weight and of proper energetic conditions inside of the same 'coacervate', 

 would have been the first living beings, structurally elementary and submicro- 

 scopic. The critical successive event of major importance would have been: 

 'La constitution d'une membrane semipermeable autour de plusieurs poly- 

 mères autoreproducteurs de natures différentes' [9]. 



This representation of the primitive state of life*, nevertheless, knocks against 

 the doubt faced by many authors [13] that substances of the type of virus can 

 really represent the primordial kind of hfe which appeared on the Earth, because 

 the viruses until to-day have never been seen multiplying themselves outside 

 of cells of animal or vegetable organisms or outside of bacteria [13]. 



Against this objection, nevertheless, is the hypothesis [14] that the macro- 

 molecule of the kind of virus and genie substances in the primitive environ- 

 mental condition would have had the possibihty of autoreproduction in presence 

 of single molecules (amino acids, peptides of simple construction, glycine, 

 phosphoric acid, glyceraldehyde and compounds with i or 2 carbon atoms — 

 etc. [6]). Then successively, because these primitive environmental conditions 

 have changed, the macromolecules would have found only the possibihty to 

 have a parasitic life, and would have utihzed fragments already well made 

 offered by metabohsm of the host. These macromolecules essentially would 

 have utilized the energy produced in the processes of disintegration which are 

 continually in progress in all the cells. In connection with this it seems oppor- 

 tune to recall that the research with isotopes [10] has demonstrated, referring to 

 the bacteriophage, that inside the bacterium cells there does not exist any macro- 

 molecular precursor which is converted catalytically by infection into new mole- 

 cular viruses. Rather a dynamic metaboHc state develops in which the particles 

 of virus are continuously formed from a mass of intermediates with low molecular 

 weight, formed themselves in the process of synthesis and degradation of the 

 host material. 



In conclusion: if we wish to leave the camp of hypothesis and to bring the 

 problem of the origin of life and of the first living beings, just as we have suggested 

 above, on to positive ground and in the field of experimental reproduction, the 

 biochemists must be able : 



(i) to build in vitro, starting from the amino acid constituents, a living protein 

 molecule. That is to say, a molecule, which properly Hnked with another one 

 (molecule of nucleic acidf), gives a holocompound endowed with the power of 

 autodupHcation (cf. experiments of sphtting and reconstruction in vitro of the 

 tobacco mosaic virus [15, 16]. But we should be able to obtain in the laboratory 

 the protidic molecule, using not the very refined technique of synthesis, with 

 which organic chemistry to-day is endowed and will be more endowed to- 



* The admission of this primitive stage of life would be in agreement with the famous 

 happy expression of Bemal [6] 'Das Leben ist älter als die Lebewesen'. 



t In reality it should also be possible to synthesize in the laboratory this molecule 

 starting from fragments with low molecular weight. 



