d. Formation of Complex Organic Molecules

The primitive broth was neutral in character and completely free of oxygen — conditions that allowed further polymerisation rather than degradation. Under these conditions, the simple organic molecules already present aggregated further into new, more complex organic molecules: polysaccharides, fats, proteins, nucleosides and nucleotides. In particular, the polymerisation of amino acids first produced protoproteins, which subsequently gave rise to true proteins. The appearance of protein molecules is regarded as a genuine landmark in the origin of life, because these proteins …