Laboratory made Proteinoid Microspheres

In 1957 Sidney Fox demonstrated that dry mixtures of amino acids (say generated in the Miller-Urey experiments) could be encouraged to polymerize upon exposure to moderate heat. When the resulting polypeptides were dissolved in hot water and the solution allowed to cool, they spontaneously formed small spherical shells about 2 μm in diameter — microspheres. Under appropriate conditions, microspheres will bud new spheres at their surfaces (Proteinoids).                                       back