Tuesday, July 5, 2022
SCIENMAG: Latest Science and Health News
No Result
View All Result
  • Login
  • HOME PAGE
  • BIOLOGY
  • CHEMISTRY AND PHYSICS
  • MEDICINE
    • Cancer
    • Infectious Emerging Diseases
  • SPACE
  • TECHNOLOGY
  • CONTACT US
  • HOME PAGE
  • BIOLOGY
  • CHEMISTRY AND PHYSICS
  • MEDICINE
    • Cancer
    • Infectious Emerging Diseases
  • SPACE
  • TECHNOLOGY
  • CONTACT US
No Result
View All Result
Scienmag - Latest science news from science magazine
No Result
View All Result
Home SCIENCE NEWS Biology

Fuel for earliest life forms: Organic molecules found in 3.5 billion-year-old rocks

February 18, 2021
in Biology
0
Share on FacebookShare on Twitter

IMAGE

Credit: Helge Missbach

A research team including the geobiologist Dr. Helge Missbach from the University of Cologne has detected organic molecules and gases trapped in 3.5 billion-year-old rocks. A widely accepted hypothesis says that the earliest life forms used small organic molecules as building materials and energy sources. However, the existence of such components in early habitats on Earth was as yet unproven. The current study, published in the journal ‘Nature Communications‘, now shows that solutions from archaic hydrothermal vents contained essential components that formed a basis for the earliest life on our planet.

Specifically, the scientists examined about 3.5 billion-year-old barites from the Dresser Formation in Western Australia. The barite thus dates from a time when early life developed on Earth. ‘In the field, the barites are directly associated with fossilized microbial mats, and they smell like rotten eggs when freshly scratched. Thus, we suspected that they contained organic material that might have served as nutrients for early microbial life,’ said Dr. Helge Missbach of the Institute of Geology and Mineralogy and lead author of the study.

In the fluid inclusions, the team identified organic compounds such as acetic acid and methanethiol, in addition to gases such as carbon dioxide and hydrogen sulfide. These compounds may have been important substrates for metabolic processes of early microbial life. Furthermore, they are discussed as putative key agents in the origin of life on Earth. ‘The immediate connection between primordial molecules emerging from the subsurface and the microbial organisms – 3.5 billion years ago – somehow surprised us. This finding contributes decisively to our understanding of the still unclear earliest evolutionary history of life on Earth,’ Missbach concluded.

###

Media Contact
Helge Missbach
[email protected]

Related Journal Article

http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41467-021-21323-z

Tags: Earth ScienceEcology/EnvironmentEvolutionGeology/SoilPaleontology
Share25Tweet16Share4ShareSendShare
  • Alcohol Changes Brain Activity Differently in Male and Female Mice

    Alcohol changes brain activity differently in male and female mice

    66 shares
    Share 26 Tweet 17
  • COVID-19 fattens up our body’s cells to fuel its viral takeover

    95 shares
    Share 38 Tweet 24
  • New imaging technology less accurate than MRI at detecting prostate cancer, trial shows

    66 shares
    Share 26 Tweet 17
  • Scientists discover key to hepatitis A virus replication, show drug effectiveness

    65 shares
    Share 26 Tweet 16
  • These energy-packed batteries work well in extreme cold and heat

    65 shares
    Share 26 Tweet 16
  • Study explores coevolution of mammals and their lice

    65 shares
    Share 26 Tweet 16
ADVERTISEMENT

About us

We bring you the latest science news from best research centers and universities around the world. Check our website.

Latest NEWS

nTIDE May 2022 COVID Update: Uncertainty about inflation tempers good news for people with disabilities

COVID-19 fattens up our body’s cells to fuel its viral takeover

The pair of Orcas deterring Great White Sharks – by ripping open their torsos for livers

Subscribe to Blog via Email

Enter your email address to subscribe to this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.

Join 190 other subscribers

© 2022 Scienmag- Science Magazine: Latest Science News.

No Result
View All Result
  • HOME PAGE
  • BIOLOGY
  • CHEMISTRY AND PHYSICS
  • MEDICINE
    • Cancer
    • Infectious Emerging Diseases
  • SPACE
  • TECHNOLOGY
  • CONTACT US

© 2022 Scienmag- Science Magazine: Latest Science News.

Welcome Back!

Login to your account below

Forgotten Password?

Retrieve your password

Please enter your username or email address to reset your password.

Log In
Posting....