Sohan Jheeta

NoRCEL; FoS & BEP

It is now becoming clear that oxygen and its species being highly reactive that it may have been instrumental in getting the prebiotic chemistry going during the emergence of life on the Earth.

Thematic Conference by NoRCEL2024: “Reactive Oxygen Species” This year, the spotlight is on reactive oxygen species (ROS) and topics of related relevance. Besides the O2 molecule itself, ROS are understood to include the hydroxyl radical, oxygen radicals and ions, ozone, the oxygen molecule in the triplet state, the oxygen atom, hydrogen peroxide...

How did life begin on the Earth? Although there are more than twenty hypotheses in literature which claim the way forward for the emergence of life, in this vein, the reactive species of oxygen may have played an equally pivotal role. Whilst it is true that the chemistry of Reactive Oxygen Species (ROS) has been known about since the 1950’s (and ha...

The Network of Researchers on the Chemical Emergence of Life (NoRCEL) is an interdisciplinary collaborative network focused on understanding the origins and evolution of life from a chemical perspective. Founded by Sohan Jheeta, NoRCEL aims to bring together scientists from various disciplines, including chemistry, biology, astronomy, and Earth sci...

Thematic Conference by NoRCEL2024: “Reactive Oxygen Species” This year, the spotlight is on reactive oxygen species (ROS) and topics of related relevance. Besides the O2 molecule itself, ROS are understood to include the hydroxyl radical, oxygen radicals and ions, ozone, the oxygen molecule in the triplet state, the oxygen atom, hydrogen peroxide...

The highest biological system on Earth is its biosphere in which microorganisms play a key role. They are responsible for the implementation of global biogeochemical cycles of various elements. The biosphere includes various ecosystems in which microorganisms are involved in various processes for the transformation of matter. One such ecosystem is...

The AstroScience Exploration Network (ASEN) is the latest innovative initiative from the Network of Researchers on the Chemical Emergence of Life (NoRCEL). Materializing on the vibrancy of the African continent, recognizing its people as a key asset, and building on specific strategic advantages, ASEN will funnel the appetite for scientific knowled...

Like the majority of non-communicable diseases that have recently gained attention, functional gastrointestinal (GI) disorders (FGID) in both children and adults are caused by a variety of medical conditions. In general, while it is often thought that common conditions such as obesity may cause other problems, for example, asthma or mental health i...

Life's origin is an enigma. Mankind has been pondering as to how it all began for millennia, yet are we any closer to uncovering the answer to this enigma? It would seem not, but we are slowly and surely edging towards discovery of the processes and mechanics by which life emerged on Earth. There are more than a couple of dozen hypotheses which cla...

The question which is being asked is, Is it Time for Planet B? (Video: https://vimeo.com/763421741 and https://vimeo.com/763152017); it seems that the quest is in the air, and on everyones lips; this is primarily due to the sense of an impending imminent doomsdaythe demise of human race. This doomsday scenario has already been put forward by the La...

While the importance of the intestinal microbiome has been realised for a number of years, the significance of the phrase microbiota–gut–brain axis is only just beginning to be fully appreciated. Our recent work has focused on the microbiome as if it were a single entity, modifying the expression of the genetic inheritance of the individual by the...

The Blue Earth Project (BEP) is an innovative initiative from NoRCEL (Network of Researchers on the Chemical Evolution of Life, https://norcel.net/bep/bep2023/). We discuss the onerous and irreversible crises that face the Earth and which are practically unsolvable. Furthermore, these issues run deep and yet are masked by ubiquitous buzz words, suc...

This video is endeavours of NoRCEL to move from strength to strength since 2013... So, this videos is about its success... We hope that more scientists join us.

"Non-communicable diseases are those conditions to which the causative infectious agents cannot be readily assigned. It is increasingly likely that at least some of these conditions are due to the breakdown of the previously mutualistic gut microbiota under the influence of a polluted, biocide-rich environment... a more cogent explanation for all t...

This is a report from NoRCEL’s Blue Earth Project symposium BEP2022 held online on January 8th, 2022. We are reporting the outcome pertaining to the following question: “Is Humanity Settling its own Fate on Ecological Survival?” A succinct conclusion drawn is that the Earth is facing the sixth mass extinction of flora and fauna; this being differen...

This is a report from NoRCEL’s Blue Earth Project symposium BEP2022 held online on January 8th, 2022. We are reporting the outcome pertaining to the following question: “Is Humanity Settling its own Fate on Ecological Survival?” A succinct conclusion drawn is that the Earth is facing the sixth mass extinction of flora and fauna; this being differen...

The purpose of this article is to provide a direction for translational research based on an analysis of the nature of complex, immune-related conditions such as obesity and coeliac disease. In essence, it seems that the prevalence of these non-communicable diseases is related to the degradation of the microbiome during the industrialisation of soc...

The article is about the outcome of the first Blue Earth Project one-day online meeting held on Saturday 8 January 2022. FIve eminent international speakers, namely Prof Medina Omo Kadiri (Nigeria), Prof Lowell Gustafson (USA), Prof Nathan Nelson (Israel), Dr Alex Godoy-Faúndez, (Chile) and Dr Mukesh Chiman Bhatt (UK) gave their verdict on the stat...

The article is about the outcome of the online one-day meeting entitled: "Is Humanity Settling Its Own Fate on Ecological Survival?" held on Saturday 8 January 2022. The five speakers, namely Prof Medina Omo Kadiri (Nigeria), Prof Lowell Gustafson (USA), Prof Nathan Nelson (Israel), Dr Alex Godoy-Faúndez, (Chile) and Dr Mukesh Chiman Bhatt (UK), de...

Is there life beyond Earth? An ideal research program would first ascertain how life on Earth began and then use this as a blueprint for its existence elsewhere. But the origin of life on Earth is still not understood, what then could be the way forward? Upcoming observations of terrestrial exoplanets provide a unique opportunity for answering this...

Ultraviolet (UV) radiation is a part of the spectrum of electromagnetic radiation emitted by the Sun. The present study was conducted to examine the deleterious effects of UV radiation on the stratum corneum of fish—namely, Glossogobius giuris. In this study, healthy living specimens of G. giuris species weighing (1.20 g) and length (4.06 cm) were...

In this paper the hypothesis that prions and prion-like molecules could have initiated the chemical evolutionary process which led to the eventual emergence of life is reappraised. The prions first hypothesis is a specific application of the protein-first hypothesis which asserts that protein based chemical evolution preceded the evolution of genet...

Background: From the early 1990s, David Barker, late of Southampton University, UK, developed a theory based on the epidemiology of non-communicable disease, which, although it became known as the Fetal Origins Hypothesis, nevertheless included infants: Aims: To update Barker’s hypothesis in the light of the modern understanding of the microbiome...

In this paper the hypothesis that prions and prion-like molecules could have initiated the chemical evolutionary process which led to the eventual emergence of life is reappraised. The prions first hypothesis is a specific application of the protein-first hypothesis which asserts that protein based chemical evolution preceded the evolution of genet...

It is increasingly likely that many non-communicable diseases of humans and associated animals are due to the degradation of their intestinal microbiomes, a situation often referred to as dysbiosis. An analysis of the resultant diseases offers an opportunity to probe the function of these microbial partners of multicellular animals. In our view, it...

THIS VIDEO IS ABOUT: HOW TO CALCULATE THE ENERGY OF UV-LIGHT PHOTONS?

Mars exploration motivates the search for extraterrestrial life, the development of space technologies, and the design of human missions and habitations. Here, we seek new insights and pose unresolved questions relating to the natural history of Mars, habitability, robotic and human exploration, planetary protection, and the impacts on human societ...

Blue Earth Project is an initiative of NoRCEL... This project concerns the serious issues facing our Earth—including global warming and climate change. These issues are here to stay. No amount of tree planting will reverse these changes even though inadvertently, this has already been tried: there are now more forests than 100 years ago after manki...

NoRCEL is an innovative and vibrant group that engages with other scientists on an international scale. In this video some of these planned activities are outlined including that of Astroscience Exploration Network (ASEN) and the Blue Earth Project (BEP). The former is to do with the dissemination of science in the African Sub-Sharan region and the...

Mars exploration motivates the search for extraterrestrial life, the development of space technologies, and the design of human missions and habitations. Here, we seek new insights and pose unresolved questions relating to the natural history of Mars, habitability, robotic and human exploration, planetary protection, and the impacts on human societ...

Mars exploration motivates the search for extraterrestrial life, the development of space technologies, and the design of human missions and habitations. Here we seek new insights and pose unresolved questions relating to the natural history of Mars, habitability, robotic and human exploration, planetary protection, and the impacts on human society...

NoRCEL and its Outreach in Sub-Saharan Africa since 2015 including lectures, oral presentations and workshop participation.

This is just a public information video highlighting the importance of promoting science on the African Continent

The reduction of excessive weight remains a major public health challenge, with control currently limited to a calorie reduction strategy. Currently, attempts are being made at revisiting the fibre hypothesis based on the African studies of Denis Burkitt, that the lack of dietary fibre in the modern diet was responsible for the occurrence of obesit...

We consider spreading astronomy to schools as a means of engaging with young people and motivating them to take up science and engineering careers. During our school visits, we donate small telescopes, astronomy software and start astronomy clubs. On the other hand, we make use of natural events such as solar and lunar eclipses to mount public enga...

Where were the Molecules of Life Made? On this poster I specifically address that large percentage of (>95%) of molecules were made in the dark molecular clouds and were then delivered on the Earth by impactors some 4.3-4.0 billion years ago. Also I point out that life required not more than 150 organic molecules to have first emerged and then evol...

ASTROCHEMISTRY: The Irradiation of Methyl Cyanide (CH3CN) Ice at 15 K with 200 keV Protons

This poster is about my outreach in the sub-Sharan countries. I disseminate science in the form of oral presentations and workshops in schools, colleges and universities.

In this paper the hypothesis that prions and prion-like molecules could have initiated the chemical evolutionary process which led to the eventual emergence of life is reappraised. The prions first hypothesis is a specific application of the protein-first hypothesis which asserts that protein- based chemical evolution preceded the evolution of gene...

Since time immemorial, one of the fundamental questions that preoccupies the human mind is, how did all this life around us come into existence? It is not surprising that there is no quick and easy answer to this question, as we do not even know the size of the puzzle that lays in front of us. Therefore, the approach that needs to be adopted is a m...

Modern terran life uses several essential biopolymers like nucleic acids, proteins and polysaccharides. The nucleic acids, DNA and RNA are arguably life's most important, acting as the stores and translators of genetic information contained in their base sequences, which ultimately manifest themselves in the amino acid sequences of proteins. But ju...

How did life begin on Earth? And is there life elsewhere in the Cosmos? Challenging questions, indeed. The series of conferences established by NoR CEL in 2013 addresses these very questions. This paper comprises a summary report of oral presentations that were delivered by NoR CEL’s network members during the 2018 Athens conference and, as such, d...

There is a worldwide increase in the incidence of non-communicable disease associated with obesity, mental health and atopic disease, the latter also observed in animals. In earlier articles we suggested that the microbiome is a single mutualistic microbial community interacting with our body by two overlapping sets of semiochemicals: allomones tha...

How did life begin on Earth? And is there life elsewhere in the Cosmos? Challenging questions, indeed. The series of conferences established by NoR CEL in 2013, addresses these very same questions. The basis for this paper is the summary report of oral presentations that were delivered by NoR CEL’s network members during the 2018 Athens conference...

Across the world there is an increasingly heavy burden of noncommunicable diseases related to obesity, mental health, and atopic disease. In a previous publication, we followed the developing idea that that these conditions arise as our microbiome loses diversity, but there seems to be no generally applicable way to assess the significance of this...

Solid Phase Astrochemistry

Viruses are generally thought of as infectious agents. However, contemporary data on the great diversity of virosphere as well as new information about nucleocytoplasmic large DNA viruses (NCLDV) challenge this classic idea. Earth’s biosphere seems to contain many more viruses than previously thought and they are of extreme relevance to the mainten...

The synthesis of prebiotic molecules from simple precursors is believed to be a crucial scheme in order to study the origin of life processes. The present study describes the one-pot synthesis of purine and pyrimidine nucleic acid bases in the presence of pre-biologically significant binary metal oxide nanoparticles, metal ferrites, namely NiFe2O4,...

This research work investigates the possibility of shielding gravity. The ultimate purpose of this work is to understand the reality behind the concept of Gravitational Shielding (GS) and time dilation. Since the 19th century, scientists have tried to arrive at an understanding of GS via the use of various experiments. Unfortunately, some experimen...

How did life begin on Earth? And is there life elsewhere in the Cosmos? Challenging questions, indeed. The series of conferences established by NoR CEL in 2013, addresses these very same questions. The basis for this paper is the summary report of oral presentations that were delivered by NoR CEL’s network members during the 2018 Athens conference...

Our paper briefly reviews the connection of the intestinal microbiome to the rise in non-communicable conditions related to atopic disease, obesity and mental health. We consider that the microbiome is best treated as if it were a single entity and have borrowed the terms semiochemical, allomone and kairomone (5) to describe interspecies relationsh...

Letter to the Editor: "Astroscience Group in Africa"

A dogma is normally considered as a principle or a belief accepted as an indisputable truth by some individuals and/or groups. Theoretically there can be no dogmas in science, but it has been demonstrated that scientific thought operates by conceptual changes. A dogma therefore can be understood as a concept present at the heart of some contemporar...

This paper reports on the various nuances of the origins of life on Earth and highlights the latest findings in that arena as reported at the Network of Researchers on Horizontal Gene Transfer and the Last Universal Common Ancestor (NoR HGT and LUCA) which was held from the 3–4th November 2016 at the Open University, UK. Although the answers to the...

Based on the hypothesis on the presence of double metal cyanides in the primordial oceans, a series of nano-sized metal(II) hexacyanocobaltate(III) (MHCCo) with the general formula: M3[Co(CN)6]2?xH2O (where M = Zn, Fe, Ni and Mn) has been synthesized. Surface interaction of aromatic amines, namely aniline, 4-chloroaniline, 4-methylaniline and 4-met...

The amino acid condensation reaction on a heterogeneous mineral surface has been regarded as one of the important pathways for peptide bond formation. Keeping this in view, we have studied the oligomerization of the simple amino acids, glycine and alanine, on nickel ferrite (NiFe 2 O 4), cobalt ferrite (CoFe 2 O 4), copper ferrite (CuFe 2 O 4), zin...

Is it unrealistic to presuppose that all of the steps that could lead to the formation of life could occur in one setting?[...].

SnCl4 or TiCl4 catalysts provided a rapid and efficient detetrahydropyranylation and demethoxymethylation of phenolic ethers and a sequential one-pot intramolecular Friedel–Crafts alkylation of chalcone epoxides under mild reaction conditions. The reaction took 2–3 min to give the phenols and 1-indanones in an excellent yield (90–98%) at 0 °C witho...

How did life emerge on Earth? The aim of the Network of Researchers on Horizontal Gene Transfer and the Last Universal Cellular Ancestor (NoR HGT & LUCA) is to understand how the genetics of LUCAs were reorganised prior to the advent of the three domains of life. This paper reports the research of eminent scientists who have come together within th...

Dr Sohan Jheeta is a theoretical scientist trying to solve one of life’s most guarded mysteries – its origin. He spotlights his cutting-edge research and global contributions to science outreach and dissemination

This review summarizes our recent findings on the role of mineral salts in prebiotic RNA synthesis, which is catalyzed by montmorillonite clay minerals. The clay minerals not only catalyze the synthesis of RNA but also facilitate homochiral selection. Preliminary data of these findings have been presented at the "Horizontal Gene Transfer and the La...

The commissioning of the ALMA array and the next generation of space telescopes heralds the dawn of a new age of Astronomy, in which the role of chemistry in the interstellar medium and in star and planet formation may be quantified. A vital part of these studies will be to determine the molecular complexity in these seemingly hostile regions and e...

This paper summarises the oral presentations, their outcomes and conclusions drawn from the meeting entitled: ‘Horizontal Gene transfer and the Last Universal Common Ancestor’ which was held at the Open University, Milton Keynes, UK, on the 5th and the 6th September 2013.

Currently there are five known mechanisms of horizontal gene transfer (HGT): transduction, conjugation, transformation, gene transfer agents and membrane vesicle transfer. The question here is: what part did HGT play in the reorganisation of genetics during the last universal common ancestor (LUCA) epoch? LUCA is a construct to explain the origin o...

This paper seeks to review the likelihood of unearthing evidence of the existence of life elsewhere in the Universe. Although it has been demonstrated that life can thrive in the severest of conditions on Earth, detecting its presence in similarly habitable zones elsewhere is proving to be an extremely complex issue. There are many reasons for this...

The results of an experimental investigation of 1 keV electron irradiation of ices (deposited at 30 K) of (i) pure methanol and (ii) of a 1:1 mixture of NH3:CH3OH are reported. Molecular products formed within the ice were detected and monitored using FTIR spectroscopy. The products observed were methyl formate (H3COHCO), methane (CH4), hydroxymeth...

In this Letter the results of an experimental investigation of 1 keV electron irradiation of a 1:1 ice mixture of NH3:CO2 at 30 K was made under ultrahigh vacuum (10−9 mbar) conditions. Molecular products formed within the ice were detected and monitored using FTIR spectroscopy. The formation of ammonium ions (NH4+), cyanate ions (OCN−), CO was obs...

The field of astrobiology is rapidly becoming a discipline in its own right as it seeks to answer the following questions: What are the conditions under which life can develop?; How widespread are these conditions in the Universe?; and What are the mechanisms by which life evolves from basic `building blocks' into self replicating systems? It is be...

We report the results of chemical processing induced by 1 keV electron irradiation of a solid N2O ice sample formed at 25 K. Ozone and several oxides of nitrogen (NO2, N2O2, N2O3, N2O4 and N2O5) were observed to form during the irradiation period. Such reactions have important implications for the ice chemistry of outer solar system planets/satelli...

Planets and their moons are constantly subjected to irradiation from both their respective planetary magnetospheres and the solar wind. Energetic particles (electrons, protons and ions) in such radiation may induce complex chemistry within the icy mantles of such bodies, producing many organic compounds. Such processes can be simulated in laborator...

To understand how life can begin on a habitable planet such as the Earth, it is essential to know what organic compounds were likely to have been available, and how they interacted with the planetary environment. Therefore an understanding of the mechanisms by which organic chemical compounds are formed (so called /prebiotic chemistry/) is essentia...

While we do not have any clear evidence of what prebiotic chemistry was like, the theory that life developed from an RNA-dominated world has many adherents. But is this too narrow a view?