Preface
Mitsuhiko Akaboshi, Noriko Fujii and Rafael Navarro-González
Foreword: Radiation and Life
André Brack

Part I Fundamentals of Radiation

Chapter 1
The Primary Physical Stage in Irradiated Medium
Hirotomo Hase
Chapter 2
Contribution of Cosmic Rays, Radiation, Lightning and Geological Heat To Prebiotic Synthesis On the Primitive Earth
Koichiro Matsuno
Chapter 3
Energetics for Chemical Evolution on the Primitive Earth
Kensei Kobayashi and Takeshi Saito
Chapter 4
The Creation of the Living Organisms by the Solar Radiation
Yutaka Toyozawa

Part II The Role of Radiation in the Origin and Evolution of Life

1 Chemical Evolution (Extraterrestrial)
Chapter 5
Radiation Chemical Approaches to Chemical Evolution Processes on Earth and Beyond
Ivan G. Draganic
Chapter 6
Radiation Prebiotic Syntheses on Titan
François Raulin, Patrice Coll, Nick Smith and Marie-Claire Gazeau
Chapter 7
Delivery of Extraterrestrial Organics to the Primitive Earth: UV-Processing of Amino Acids in Earth Orbit
Bernard Barbier, Marylène Bertrand, François Boillot, Annie Chabin, Didier Chaput, Odile Henin and André Brack
Chapter 8
Titan Haze: Cyanoacetylene and Cyanoacetylene-Acetylene Photopolymers
David W. Clarke, Jeffrey C. Joseph and James P. Ferris

2 Chemical Evolution (Terrestrial)
Chapter 9
Chemical Evolution on the Dust Grains in the Dark Clouds: Experimental Approach
Kenzo Hiraoka
Chapter 10
Chemistry of Archean Volcanic Lightning
Rafael Navarro-González, Mario J. Molina and Luisa T. Molina
Chapter 11
Irradiation Promoted Production of Organic Precursor Species in Inorganic Solids on the Prebiotic Earth
Carol H. Collins, Guadalupe Albarrán and Kenneth E. Collins
Chapter 12
Radiation Induced Reactions in Compounds of Biochemical Relevance
A. Negrón-Mendoza and S. Ramos-Bernal
Chapter 13
Experimental Studies of Chemical Evolution Using Nuclear Reactions and their Associated Radiations
Mitsuhiko Akaboshi, Kenichi Kawai, Yoshiko Tanaka, Keizo Kawamoto and Noriko Fujii
Chapter 14
Chemical Synthesis of Biomolecules in the Origin of Life Simulated by Ions Implantation
Zengliang Yu, Jianwei Han, Xiangqin Wang, Weidong Huang and Chunlin Shao
Chapter 15
Exprimental Evidences for the Participation of Hydroxyl Radicals in the High Energy Aqueous Reactions Induced by Argon Arc Plasma and Contact Glow Discharge: A Review
Kaoru Harada
Chapter 16
The Prebiotic Synthesis: The Uranium as a Universal Energy Source
León Garzón

3 Molecular Evolution
Chapter 17
The Possible Role of Radiation in Biogenesis: A System Approach
Noam Lahav, Shlomo Nir, Shmuel Assouline and Aryeh Trainin
Chapter 18
Modification of aA-Crystallin obtained from aged and X-ray Irradiated Mouse Lenses
Noriko Fujii, Yuko Momose, Toshio Kodama, and Mitsuhiko Akaboshi
Chapter 19
Tryptophanase - Catalyzed D-Tryptophan Degradation Reaction and its Significance for Chiral Homogeneity
Akihiko Shimada, Hiroko Shishido, Hitomi Kogure, Isei Nakamura, Noriko Fujii and Mitsuhiko Akaboshi

4 Biological Evolution
Chapter 20
DNA Repair and Evolutionary Conservation of Heat Shock Responce Gene HSP70 in Halophilic Archaebacteria
C. K. K. Nair, R. Rajagopalan and A. S. Kazi
Chapter 21
Induction of Macromutation with g-Rays in Rice Plants
Koji Yamamoto

Part III Origin of Homochirality

Chapter 22
Formation of Enantiomeric Excess upon Irradiation
Vitalii I. Goldanskii
Chapter 23
New Concepts on the Role of Physical Parameters Inducing Homochirality for the Evolution of Biospheres
Wolfram H.-P. Thiemann
Chapter 24
Radiation on the Causal Origin of Homochirality
Wang Wenqing, Yi Fang
Chapter 25
Search for Asymmetric Reaction of Amino Acids by Circularly Polarized Radiation Using a Polarizing Undulator at the Electrotechnical Laboratory
Kazumichi Nakagawa, Takeshi Mochida, Takashi Okamoto, Sachiko Saijoh, Sin'ichi Ueji, Taisaku Amakawa, Toru Yamada and Hideo Onuki

Index