Diamonds May Be Life's Birthstone A photo of unpolished natural
diamond. CREDIT: A. Sommer One of the hurdles in origin-of-life
theories is that the pieces that make up complex biomolecules do
not readily come together by themselves. A group of scientists
proposes that diamonds provided a kind of "workbench" for
biomolecule manufacturing on early Earth. Not long after its
formation, our planet was according to astrobiologists awash in
a primordial soup that contained the rudimentary ingredients of
life. The fly in the "soup" theory, however, is that the small
molecular bits likely needed outside help in order to latch
together into the long, complex biomolecules that living
organisms use. Some scientists have suggested that the surfaces
of minerals on the early Earth provided an organizing platform
upon which the building blocks of life could assemble.? Recent
studies of diamond suggest that its surface would be especially
good for this. "Diamond is totally non-toxic, an excellent
biomaterial and certainly th