Synthesis of phospholipids and membranes in prebiotic conditions

IT is generally agreed that stable membranes were prerequisite to the assembly of the earliest self-replicating systems 1–4 . Phospholipids, which are ubiquitous in biological membranes and which self-assemble in aqueous environments into stable lipid bilayers and vesicles 4 , are obvious candidates for prebiotic membrane components. We report here the abiotic synthesis of various lipids, including membranogenic phospholipids.