Abstract
Three recently published critical papersby Bonner and coworkers on the extraterrestrial origin of thehomochirality of biomolecules and the amplification of tinyenantiomeric excess are discussed. The presented arguments showthe difficulties involved in circularly polarized u.v. andvisible synchrotron radiation from neutron stars, in their ratioto non circularly polarized light and in racemization of theproducts. Attention is called upon another mechanism forproduction of extraterrestrial handedness based on Salam'scondensation theory and on the recent experimental demonstrationof the enantioselective magnetochiral photochemistry. Arguments,as well as experiments, point out that tiny enantiomeric excessesmight be amplified via the Yamagata accumulation principlequestioned by Bonner.
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Keszthelyi, L. Homochirality of Biomolecules: Counter-Arguments Against Critical Notes. Orig Life Evol Biosph 31, 249–256 (2001). https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1010758205545
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1010758205545