On the possibility that supernovae influence homochiral organic molecule formation

The origin of the homochirality of the organic molecules in living material remains a mystery. We propose here that the supernova(s) that initiated the solar system also produced the mechanism for the chiral symmetry breaking in the organic material in the interstellar medium. The major process would involve either bar ve from a supernova explosion or the Al26 produced in the debris in conjunction with the weak neutral current process. Both give rise to chiral positrons and interactions with the organic material in the prebiotic medium. We describe some possible tests of this concept. We note that in this picture, all life forms in the Universe based on hydrocarbons should have the same chiral structure. copyright 1996 American Institute of Physics