The Spark of Life: How Tiny Jeewanu Particles Are Illuminating Life's Origins
The secret to how life began on Earth might lie in microscopic particles forged from sunlight and simple chemicals.
Laboratory Synthesis
Light-Driven Formation
Microscopic Analysis
Protocell Models
Imagine if the secret to life's origins could be cooked up in a simple laboratory setup, using basic chemicals and the power of light. This isn't science fiction—it's the fascinating story of Jeewanu, mysterious synthetic particles whose name derives from the Sanskrit words for "particles of life."
Year of First Synthesis
Particle Size Range
What Are Jeewanu? The "Particles of Life"
The story of Jeewanu begins at the University of Allahabad in the 1950s and 60s with Indian chemist Krishna Bahadur. He and his team mixed simple inorganic and organic substances—including paraformaldehyde, ammonium phosphate, and minerals containing molybdenum and iron—in sterilized conditions. When this mixture was exposed to sunlight for several days, something remarkable happened: microscopic spherical particles formed, seemingly from scratch.
Krishna Bahadur
Indian chemist who first synthesized Jeewanu particles in the 1960s
Life-like Characteristics of Jeewanu
Similar to modern cell membranes 3
Containing amino acids, phospholipids, and carbohydrates 3
Much like unicellular organisms 1
Including enzyme-like functions 1
A Modern Quest: Recreating the Spark
For over half a century, Bahadur's work languished in obscurity. However, a team of scientists at the Simons Centre for the Study of Living Machines in Bengaluru is now reviving this line of inquiry with modern scientific tools 5 .
Their experiment focuses on a fundamental process: how different light sources affect the formation and structure of Jeewanu particles. The researchers exposed a specific chemical mixture designed to mimic a prebiotic environment to two different light sources: the broad spectrum of natural sunlight and the controlled, intense beam of a clinical mercury lamp 5 .
Modern laboratory equipment used in Jeewanu research
The Experimental Method in Action
Preparation of PEM (Parental Environmental Medium)
The scientists created a sterilized aqueous mixture containing specific organic and inorganic precursors. Key components included a carbon source (paraformaldehyde), nitrogen and phosphorus sources (ammonium phosphate), and catalytic minerals (compounds of molybdenum and iron).
Irradiation Process
The prepared PEM was divided and subjected to controlled irradiation. One set was exposed to natural sunlight, while another was placed under a clinical mercury lamp, which provides a high-energy, full-spectrum light similar to sunlight but more consistent and controllable.
Observation & Analysis
After exposure over days to weeks, the resulting particles were meticulously analyzed. The team used advanced microscopy to track growth and structural changes, and powerful tools like mass spectrometry were employed to identify specific molecules formed within the particles.
Decoding the Results: What the Light Revealed
The re-examination of Jeewanu synthesis has yielded fascinating insights, both confirming and questioning aspects of the original 1960s claims 5 .
Essential Ingredients
The modern team discovered that only a minimal set of ingredients is truly essential: a carbon source (paraformaldehyde), along with molybdenum, ammonium phosphate, and iron sulphate. Light acts as a catalyst, speeding up the reaction but not being strictly necessary.
Growth vs. Reproduction
When they tracked the particles under the microscope, they confirmed one of Bahadur's key observations: the Jeewanu particles do grow. However, they have not yet been able to confirm the claim that the particles reproduce by budding. What the original team might have interpreted as budding could have been particles growing into each other at high densities.
Validation of Historical Jeewanu Claims
| Original Claim (Bahadur, 1960s) | Finding from Modern Replication |
|---|---|
| Growth and Division by Budding | Growth confirmed; budding not observed and may have been a misinterpretation |
| Presence of Metabolic Products (e.g., Amino Acids) | Preliminary mass spectrometry data suggests signatures of amino acids, supporting the claim |
| Semi-Permeable Membrane Compartment | Ongoing investigation; yet to be conclusively proven |
| Dependence on Sunlight | Light acts as a catalyst for faster formation, but is not an absolute requirement |
Morphological Differences by Light Source
The Significance of Jeewanu in Origin of Life Research
The research into Jeewanu is far more than an academic exercise. If confirmed, these particles could represent one of the simplest known protocell models 5 . Unlike other artificial cell models that rely on complex, pre-formed polymers, Jeewanu are formed from remarkably simple molecules, making them a compelling candidate for how the first life-like structures might have assembled on early Earth.
Fascinatingly, research on Jeewanu has provided support for the RNA World Hypothesis—the idea that self-replicating RNA molecules were crucial in the origin of life. Histochemical investigations have confirmed the presence of RNA-like material in Jeewanu structures 6 . When stained with Pyronin-Y (a dye that specifically binds to RNA), the particles showed a bright red coloration, particularly after longer exposure periods of 16-32 hours 6 .
This finding is significant because it demonstrates that RNA-like material can form under simulated prebiotic conditions, suggesting that similar processes might have occurred on early Earth.
One of the most remarkable properties of Jeewanu is their ability to capture and utilize energy. Bahadur reported that Jeewanu could catalyze the photochemical decomposition of water using sunlight as an energy source 1 . The hydrogen gas produced in this process was then utilized in the photochemical fixation of nitrogen and carbon dioxide—fundamental processes in early biochemistry 1 .
This energy transduction capability suggests that similar mineral-based photocatalysts could have driven early metabolic processes before the evolution of complex enzymatic systems.
Documented Components of Jeewanu Particles
| Component Category | Specific Examples Identified | Significance / Proposed Function |
|---|---|---|
| Organic Molecules | Amino acids (in peptide form), phospholipids | Building blocks for proteins and cell membrane structures |
| Sugars | Ribose, deoxyribose, fructose, glucose | Potential for energy and genetic material (ribose, deoxyribose) |
| Nucleic Acid Bases | Adenine, Guanine, Cytosine, Thymine, Uracil | Building blocks for RNA and DNA |
| Catalytic Minerals | Colloidal Molybdenum Oxide, Ferric Chloride | Act as catalysts for photochemical reactions and electron transfer |
The Scientist's Toolkit: Building Blocks for a Protocell
Creating Jeewanu requires a specific set of chemical ingredients, each playing a crucial role in mimicking the conditions of a prebiotic Earth. The following list details the essential "Research Reagent Solutions" and their functions in the formation of these protocells 1 3 5 :
Paraformaldehyde
Serves as the primary carbon source, providing the essential backbone for constructing organic molecules.
Ammonium Phosphate
Supplies nitrogen and phosphorus, two vital elements for building amino acids and genetic material.
Molybdenum Compounds
Act as critical catalysts for photochemical reactions, including facilitating electron transfer.
Ferric Chloride / Iron Sulphate
Another key catalytic mineral that works in concert with molybdenum to drive the formation reactions.
Mineral Solution
Provides a suite of trace elements (e.g., calcium, potassium, magnesium) that are essential for vital processes and favor the process of abiogenesis.
Why Jeewanu Matter: Beyond the Microscope
The ongoing investigation of Jeewanu represents more than just a historical curiosity—it provides crucial insights into fundamental questions about life's origins:
This work beautifully illustrates the self-organizing potential of matter. Under the right conditions, with just a few simple ingredients and an energy source like sunlight, chemistry can give rise to structured, complex systems that exhibit life-like properties such as growth and metabolism. This bridges the once vast gap between the non-living and the living 5 .
As scientists continue to probe the secrets of the Jeewanu, they are not just recreating the past; they are illuminating the fundamental principles that may govern the emergence of life anywhere in the universe. The simple yet profound lesson of Jeewanu is that the boundaries between non-life and life might be more permeable than we ever imagined.
The next time you feel sunlight on your skin, consider that the same simple energy source might have helped assemble the very first precursors to life billions of years ago—and that scientists are now harnessing that same power to unravel one of nature's greatest mysteries.