LETHAL LIFE

A chemist at the University of Illinois at Chicago proposes that hydrogen
cyanide, which is lethal to humans, and water--two of the most common molecules
in the universe--may have triggered the molecular chains that started life on
Earth.

Liquid hydrogen cyanide, when exposed to a base such as ammonia, polymerizes and
turns black, much like the dark matter found on the asteroids and comets,
according to Clifford Matthews. Since some of the protein molecules present when
life began on Earth can be derived from hydrogen cyanide polymers and water,
these molecules could have been carried to the early Earth by the comets and
asteroids that slammed into the young planet, thus helping to create life,
Matthews says.

"Actually, this theory could not have been thought of until recently," Matthews
says. "Now it's possible, thanks to the spectral data brought back from
Halley's Comet missions [which detected hydrogen cyanide and its separate
components] and advanced ground-based telescopes analyzing the surfaces of
asteroids."

If Matthews is correct, hydrogen cyanide polymers could also explain the
presence of much of the dark matter in today's solar system, such as the dark
hemisphere of Saturn's satellite lapetus. But for now, he and other scientists
continue to search for more evidence of hydrogen cyanide polymers. "It's
amazing to think that something that can kill us may have been responsible for
bringing life to the earth," he says.