"Crystals are dramatic examples of the
capacity of matter to self-organize. As we saw in the
incident related by Holden and Sanger, they can also
acquire and retain information-- for example, their geometric
structure-- and reproduce copies of themselves containing
the same information. Given that they perform all these
functions while remaining far more stable and durable
than DNA, Cairns-Smith believes that crystals make very
likely candidates as the most ancient progenitors of
life. However, to more fully establish his case, Cairns-Smith
knew that he had to find a crystal that possessed one
further quality, the ability to use the information it
possesses to interact with its environment..."
"...Clays not only have the ability to grow and adsorb
other molecules, but they can then incorporate
the information from those molecules and
use it to alter and change themselves. Clays were almost most certainly
among the most abundant substances on the early Earth.
Even while the Earth was still too hot to support life
as we know it, cooling rains poured down upon the mountains
and the rocks, slowly pulverizing them into vast percolating
beds of clay. Cairns-Smith believes that it was clay
itself that formed the first link between life and
nonlife. In his book "The Life Puzzle", he sketches
out a possible evolutionary description fo three different
species of clay he calls Sloppy, Sticky, and Lumpy..."
"Lumpy solved this problem by accidentally picking
up just enough organic molecules to make it both a
little sloppy and a little sticky. Having the thick,
coagulated consistency of modern clays, Lumpy was able
to grow rapidly, survive storms, and even spread, sending
broken lumps of itself downstream to grow into new
claybeds. In this way Lumpy not only interacted in
a complex manner with its environment but also survived
selective pressures. Add just one more trait to Lumpy--
the ability of crystals to apparently duplicate and
pass on innovation-- as demonstrated by Holden and
Sanger's crystals of ethylene diamine tartrate-- and
you have everything necessary for the acquisition and
inheritance of new characteristics, a quality hitherto
believed confined to the realm of biological life..."
"...Weiss has identified more than eight thousand
different derivatives in which clays have acted as
templates, causing chemicals like ammonium ions and
alcohols to solidify into organic components... Cairns-Smith
believes that it was inevitable that the clay would
ultimately have assumed a secondary role, providing
little more than a protective clamp, until at last,
life broke free and started to form its own protective
cell walls..."
