π Key findings:
- Living cells may have originated from non-living things 3.5 billion years ago
- Fatty acid production is important for early cell development
- Similar events may be occurring on the solar system’s icy moons.
NEWCASTLE, UK β Could ancient hot springs unlock the mysteries of life on Earth? Scientists at Newcastle University are hoping. Their new research investigates how the first living systems emerged from non-living geological material more than 3.5 billion years ago.
The research team’s findings include the creation of organic molecules containing long-chain fatty acids, which are important components of early cell membranes. These discoveries may explain key steps in the formation of life on Earth billions of years ago and suggest a plausible origin for organic molecules essential to ancient cell membranes. .
Fatty acids are long organic molecules with water-attracting and water-repelling regions that naturally form cell-like compartments in water. These molecules are thought to have helped form the first cell membranes. However, the origin of these fatty acids during the early stages of life remained a mystery. Researchers at Newcastle University say these molecules may have formed in hydrothermal vents, where hydrogen-rich fluids from underwater vents mixed with carbon dioxide-laden seawater. is suggesting.
The researchers recreated early Earth’s ocean conditions in the lab and found that mixing hydrogen, bicarbonate, and iron-rich magnetite in a mild hydrothermal vent-like environment allowed these important molecules to form. I discovered that.
βCentral to the beginning of life are cellular compartments, which are important for isolating internal chemicals from the external environment. These compartments concentrate chemicals and facilitate life-sustaining reactions by facilitating energy production. Dr Graham Purvis, lead author of the study and postdoctoral fellow at Durham University, said: university release.
This study shows that interactions of hydrogen-rich fluids from alkaline hydrothermal vents with bicarbonate-rich water over iron-based minerals may have promoted the formation of early cell membranes. There is. This process could have produced different types of membranes, some of which may have been the cradle of life as we know it.
![A 3D rendering of the double helix structure of DNA on a blue background. It highlights the complex beauty of life's genetic code.](https://studyfinds.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/thavis-3d-2GEr4fLZt8A-unsplash.jpg)
βWe think this research has the potential to provide a first step into how life originated on our planet,β said lead researcher and Professor of Natural and Environmental Sciences at the University of Newcastle. Dr John Telling, Reader in Biogeochemistry in the Department, said: university release. “Our lab is currently working to determine the second critical step: how these organic molecules, which are initially ‘stuck’ to the surface of the mineral, break away and form into spherical shapes. Do they form cell-like compartments surrounded by membranes? The first potential “protocells” that were to form the first cellular life. β
Interestingly, this study also suggests that similar film-forming reactions may be occurring in the oceans beneath the icy surfaces of our solar system’s moons, suggesting that life may have originated on these distant worlds. It suggests possibility.
![The host star of Jupiter's largest moon Ganymede. It is beige in color with white stripes on its surface.](https://studyfinds.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/Ganymeded-surface.png)
![The host star of Jupiter's largest moon Ganymede. It is beige in color with white stripes on its surface.](https://studyfinds.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/Ganymeded-surface.png)
![The host star of Jupiter's largest moon Ganymede. It is beige in color with white stripes on its surface.](https://studyfinds.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/Ganymeded-surface.png)
![The host star of Jupiter's largest moon Ganymede. It is beige in color with white stripes on its surface.](https://studyfinds.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/Ganymeded-surface.png)
This research not only provides insight into the origins of life on Earth, but also paves the way to understanding the possibility of life elsewhere in the universe.
The research will be published in a journal Communication Earth and Environment.