Abstract
WITH reference to recent letters on quasars, anti-matter and optical asymmetry1,2, it should be noted that Vester directed attention to the parallel between the asymmetry of matter and the optical asymmetry of metabolites, a few weeks after the discovery of parity non-conservation in weak interactions3. The relationship between asymmetry at the level of elementary particles and at the molecular level has been discussed in a number of publications4–8. In particular, the problem of the origin of optical activity in connexion with the origin of life has been considered, and it has been suggested that the optical asymmetry found on Earth is related to the structure of matter itself, that is, it is a reflexion of the asymmetry of our part of the Universe.
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References
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Vester, F., Dissert., Universität des Saarlandes, Saarbrücken (1963).
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ULBRICHT, T. Quasars, Anti-matter and Optical Asymmetry. Nature 209, 391 (1966). https://doi.org/10.1038/209391a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/209391a0
