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Organic chemistry and biology of the interstellar mediumInterstellar organic chemistry is discussed as the field of study emerging from the discovery of microwave lines of formaldehyde and of hydrogen cyanide in the interstellar medium. The reliability of molecular identifications and comparisons of interstellar and cometary compounds are considered, along with the degradational origin of simple organics. It is pointed out that the contribution of interstellar organic chemistry to problems in biology is not substantive but analogical. The interstellar medium reveals the operation of chemical processes which, on earth and perhaps on vast numbers of planets throughout the universe, led to the origin of life, but the actual molecules of the interstellar medium are unlikely to play any significant biological role.
Document ID
19740054688
Acquisition Source
Legacy CDMS
Document Type
Other - Collected Works
Authors
Sagan, C.
(Cornell University Ithaca, N.Y., United States)
Date Acquired
August 7, 2013
Publication Date
January 1, 1973
Subject Category
Chemistry
Accession Number
74A37438
Funding Number(s)
CONTRACT_GRANT: NGR-33-010-101
Distribution Limits
Public
Copyright
Other

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