An experimental and numerical model of the behavior of cytosine in aqueous solution under gamma radiation. Relevance in prebiotic chemistry
A. Paredes-Arriaga,
A. Negrón-Mendoza,
D. Frias,
A.L. Rivera,
S. Ramos-Bernal
Affiliations
A. Paredes-Arriaga
Instituto de Ciencias Nucleares, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Cd. Universitaria, Coyoacán, C.P, 04510, CDMX, Mexico; Posgrado en Ciencias de la Tierra, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Cd. Universitaria, Coyoacán, C.P, 04510, CDMX, Mexico; Corresponding author. Instituto de Ciencias Nucleares, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Cd. Universitaria, Coyoacán, C.P, 04510, CDMX, Mexico.
A. Negrón-Mendoza
Instituto de Ciencias Nucleares, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Cd. Universitaria, Coyoacán, C.P, 04510, CDMX, Mexico; Corresponding author.
D. Frias
Departamento de Ciências Exatas e da Terra, Universidad de do Estado da Bahia, Salvador, BA, Brazil
A.L. Rivera
Instituto de Ciencias Nucleares, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Cd. Universitaria, Coyoacán, C.P, 04510, CDMX, Mexico; Centro de Ciencias de la Complejidad, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Cd. Universitaria, Coyoacán, C.P, 04510, CDMX, Mexico
S. Ramos-Bernal
Instituto de Ciencias Nucleares, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Cd. Universitaria, Coyoacán, C.P, 04510, CDMX, Mexico
Cytosine is an essential chemical molecule in living systems, such as DNA and RNA, it is essential in astrobiology to study how it behaves under probable primitive conditions. We looked at how cytosine broke down in aqueous solutions exposed to high radiation levels to learn more about how stable it might have been on the early Earth. We conducted various types of analysis, such as ultraviolet–visible spectroscopy and high-pressure liquid chromatography. We also developed a computer model to describe the kinetic processes and learn more about the molecules involved in the system. This model fits the results of experiments and lets us study cytosine's stability when it is exposed to gamma radiation. It enables researchers to theorize processes that are hard to test in the laboratory and is essential for studying how stable cytosine behaves in high-radiation settings.
