Life’s ‘last universal common ancestor’ may predate life itself
A groundbreaking study hints at a hazy boundary between “life” and “non-life,” as well as two distinct origins of biology on Earth
A groundbreaking study suggests that the "last universal common ancestor" (LUCA) of life on Earth may have existed before the emergence of life itself. This controversial claim, presented in a paper published in Science Advances, challenges the traditional view that LUCA was a primitive bacteriumlike cell from which all life on Earth evolved.
According to the research team led by evolutionary biologist Bill Martin of Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf in Germany, LUCA was not a living organism but rather a chemical system formed in the unique environment created by hydrothermal vents. These deep-sea mineral formations, fueled by volcanic activity, emit a rich chemical brew over the ocean floor.
The Düsseldorf group argues that LUCA possessed many of the ingredients necessary for living systems, including a primitive form of genetic encoding and metabolic chemical reactions required to harness energy. However, instead of being driven by elaborate protein enzymes like in modern organisms, these metabolic reactions were catalyzed by simple metallic chemical elements found in the hydrothermal vents' minerals.
This "half-alive" LUCA concept marks a significant shift in our understanding of the early evolution process.
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