The decentralized computing power-sharing network Golem has partnered with software firm Allchemy for a program exploring the origins of life on Earth.<\/p>\n
The program, called LIFE@Golem, harnesses Golem\u2019s computing power in an attempt to recreate billions of chemical reactions and molecular bonds to trace how the first forms of life could have started on the planet. Working with\u00a0Allchemy \u2014 no apparent connection to\u00a0blockchain developer Alchemy \u2014 Golem\u2019s infrastructure makes it possible to simulate far greater numbers of molecules.<\/p>\n
\u201cAlthough research in this arena is decades-old, it has never been conducted on similar scales, boosted by a state-of-the-art computerized synthesis engine deployed on a global platform such as Golem,\u201d said the project. \u201cThe algorithm will be tracing synthetic pathways that could have enabled primitive metabolism and self-replication.\u201d<\/p>\n
The overwhelming majority of scientists tend to agree that following the bonding of amino acids to create the first proteins in Earth\u2019s primordial soup, some of the first organisms were thought to be microbes dwelling in the ocean near hydrothermal vents, possibly more than 3.4 billion years ago. LIFE@Golem\u2019s algorithm, implemented on Golem\u2019s infrastructure, assumes a starting point of nine types of molecules \u2014 purportedly including ammonia, water, nitrogen, methane, hydrogen cyanide and hydrogen sulfide \u2014 present somewhere in the primordial ocean and applies plausible reaction rules to determine how long and under what conditions early life may have formed. <\/p>\n
According to the project team, it is approaching the 10th generation with roughly 1 billion molecules formed. Golem\u2019s community node operators make the computations behind such a large number of chemical reactions and conditions possible.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe project demonstrates to the blockchain community that reputable life-sciences partners such as Allchemy see practical potential in Golem and can prove it by utilizing the protocol,\u201d said Golem Factory founder and CEO Piotr Janiuk. \u201cIt lays down a framework (or process) to interconnect scientific facilities to the protocol \u2014 almost on demand.\u201d<\/p>\n