  In a neglected 2005 paper, Nobel Laureate Paul Lauterbur proposed that
molecular imprinting in amorphous materials -- a phenomenon with an extensive
experimental literature -- played a key role in abiogenesis. The present paper
builds on Lauterbur's idea to propose imprint-mediated templating (IMT), a
mechanism for prebiotic peptide replication that could potentially avoid a
range of difficulties arising in classic gene-first and metabolism-first models
of abiogenesis. Unlike models that propose prebiotic RNA synthesis, activation,
and polymerization based on unknown chemistries, peptide/IMT models are
compatible with demonstrably realistic prebiotic chemistries: synthesis of
dilute mixtures of racemic amino acids from atmospheric gases, and
polymerization of unactivated amino acids on hot, intermittently-wetted
surfaces. Starting from a peptide/IMT-based genetics, plausible processes could
support the elaboration of genetic and metabolic complexity in an early-Earth
environment, both explaining the emergence of homochirality and providing a
potential bridge to nucleic acid metabolism. Peptide/IMT models suggest
directions for both theoretical and experimental inquiry.
