Sidney W. Fox

Sidney W. Fox

Sidney Walter Fox (24 March 1912 - 10 August 1998) was a Los Angeles-born biochemist responsible for discoveries on the origins of life. Fox explored the synthesis of amino acids from inorganic molecules, the synthesis of proteinous amino acids and amino acid polymers called "proteinoids" from inorganic molecules and thermal energy, and created what he thought was the world's first "protocells" out of proteinoids and water. He called these protocells "microspheres" and they have now been named "protobionts." Fox believed in spontaneous generation of life and suggested that his experiments possessed conditions that were similar to those of primordial Earth. In his experiments, he demonstrated that it is possible to create protein-like structures from inorganic molecules and thermal energy. Dr. Fox went on to create microspheres that he said closely resembled bacterial cells and concluded that they could be similar to the earliest forms of life.