Recent Advances in Origins of Life Research by Biophysicists in Japan
Recent Advances in Origins of Life Research by Biophysicists in Japan
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DOI：
10.3390/challe10010028
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发表时间：
2019-04
期刊：
影响因子：
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通讯作者：
Tony Z. Jia;Yutetsu Kuruma
中科院分区：
文献类型：
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作者：
Tony Z. Jia;Yutetsu Kuruma
生物物理学的研究往往侧重于利用多学科技术和跨学科合作，通过化学和物理的镜头来研究生物现象。虽然目前大多数生物物理学的工作都集中在研究现存的生物学，但事实仍然是，现代生物系统在某种程度上是由一个普遍的共同祖先后裔。现代生物学的核心问题是地球上（或地球外）最早的生命是如何出现的。日本生物物理学家最近在技术和方法上取得的进步，使研究人员获得了一套与生命起源有关的新知识（OoL）。利用这些报告作为灵感，在这里，我们重点介绍了日本生物物理研究领域成员在早期地球生物（或前生物）成分的合成和组装、原始隔间与生物聚合物系统的共同组装以及早期遗传系统的进化方面所取得的一些重大进展。我们希望为其他生物物理学家提供启发，使他们不仅可以使用不断发展的多学科技术套件来继续自己的工作，而且还可以考虑他们的工作或技术如何为不断增长的OoL研究领域做出贡献。
Biophysics research tends to focus on utilizing multidisciplinary technologies and interdisciplinary collaborations to study biological phenomena through the lens of chemistry and physics. Although most current biophysics work is focused on studying extant biology, the fact remains that modern biological systems at some point were descended from a universal common ancestor. At the core of modern biology is the important question of how the earliest life on (or off) Earth emerged. Recent technological and methodological advances developed by biophysicists in Japan have allowed researchers to gain a new suite of knowledge related to the origins of life (OoL). Using these reports as inspiration, here, we highlight some of the significant OoL advances contributed by members of the biophysical research field in Japan with respect to the synthesis and assembly of biological (or pre-biological) components on early Earth, the co-assembly of primitive compartments with biopolymer systems, and the evolution of early genetic systems. We hope to provide inspiration to other biophysicists to not only use the always-advancing suite of available multidisciplinary technologies to continue their own line of work, but to also consider how their work or techniques can contribute to the ever-growing field of OoL research.