Mar 14, 2023 07:00:00

A substance that is the origin of life on earth is discovered

The question ``How did the first life on the earth appear?'' is one of the

eternal themes that has not yet been clarified. Various approaches are being taken, such as trying to elucidate it with an algorithm to track . In March 2023, a research team at Rutgers University in the United States announced that the origin of the 'metabolism' that drives the first life on earth was identified as a certain substance, and that it was the source of life on earth. has been shown to have caused

Design of a minimal di-nickel hydrogenase peptide
https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/sciadv.abq1990

Scientists identify substance that may have sparked life on Earth
https://phys.org/news/2023-03-scientists-substance-life-earth.html

There are many theories about the origin of life, such as experiments that ``life originated with lightning,'' and theories about places and phenomena such as ``born in mud'' and ``born in hot springs.'' There is also On the other hand, the idea that the origin of life is derived from proteins and DNA, which are essential for life, is also a major theory . In addition to the hypotheses , there is also the ``metabolic priority model,'' which focuses on proteins and metabolic systems that promote life, ``starting with simpler molecules.'' The Rutgers University research is close to this 'metabolism priority model', and the research team has announced that it has discovered a simple substance that is the origin of metabolism.

Seven theories on 'origin of life' - GIGAZINE

According to a paper published in the scientific journal Science Advances, hydrogen was required for metabolic processes to sustain life on the primordial Earth, which was anoxic, and hydrogenase , an enzyme capable of activating hydrogen gas, was needed. There are also studies that point to the progenitor of life. However, because existing hydrogenases are complex compositions of hundreds of amino acids and multiple cofactors, the researchers hypothesized that there were smaller, simpler building blocks, which they dubbed ' nickelback '. We designed and experimented with a nickel-binding peptide consisting of 13 amino acids. As a result, ``Modern enzymes involved in the metabolism of life are highly complex, but they likely evolved from simple peptide precursors on early Earth.'' The image below compares a model of Nickelback with other natural enzymes: hydrogenase on the left, Nickelback in the middle, and the large and complex protein carboxylic acid synthase (ACS) on the right.

Researchers consider nickel to be an 'abundant metal in the early oceans,' and when it binds to peptides, the nickel atoms catalyze the production of hydrogen gas, thereby promoting metabolism. We believe that hydrogen, which is an important energy source for

'Scientists believe there was a turning point somewhere between 3.5 and 3.8 billion years ago,' said Vikas Nanda, a researcher at the Center for Advanced Biotechnology and Medicine at Rutgers University. At this point, the shift from prebiotic science of pre-living molecules to biological systems began, driven by small peptide precursors that played key roles in ancient metabolic reactions. presumably caused by it,' he said.

This research is being carried out in collaboration with a team led by Rudgers University and NASA's Astrobiology Program, and NASA scientists are looking for 'biosignatures' that indicate signs of new life in space. In November 2020, it was announced that a team of NASA scientists had discovered a ``carbon compound with the potential to form life'' as a biosignature on Saturn's moon Titan . Peptides like Nickelback could also be biosignatures for detecting life-giving planets, said Nanda, 'so this study has important implications for the search for extraterrestrial life.' We are doing it,” said Nanda.

``Molecules that can be the origin of life'' are discovered in the atmosphere of Saturn's satellite Titan - GIGAZINE

``There are many theories about the origin of life, but few of these ideas have been tested in the laboratory,'' Nanda said. Not only that, but it shows that they are very stable and very active, which is a plausible explanation as a starting point for life, ”he argues about the significance of the research. In addition, by investigating the potential of metallopeptides, including nickelbac, to catalyze many reactions, including redox reactions, it is possible to elucidate several origins of peptides in major ancient metabolic reaction networks. Expected.