Study Proposes Dual Origins of Life on Earth
WHO:
ScienceAlert - William Martin, a biologist at Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf, is a key researcher in the study.
Phys.org - An international team of biologists led by researchers at Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf conducted the study.
WHAT:
ScienceAlert - The study claims that the bacterial and archaeal lineages made the transition to the free-living state independently, stating, "Let's call it by name: we are looking at one origin of the genetic code, but two origins of life."
ScienceAlert - The researchers identified a network of approximately 400 enzymatic reactions that convert compounds into the building blocks of life, emphasizing that "its emergence from spontaneous environmental reactions had to traverse intermediate states of assembly, which have previously been elusive."
ScienceAlert - The study suggests that the first life arose in reactive environments, such as hydrothermal vents, where metals acted as catalysts for metabolism, with William Martin stating, "The other half was catalyzed by metals in the environment where LUCA arose."
ScienceAlert - A study published in Science Advances suggests that life on Earth may have originated twice, with bacteria and archaea independently developing metabolic processes.
ScienceAlert - The study claims that the bacterial and archaeal lineages transitioned to free-living cells independently.
ScienceAlert - The researchers identified a network of approximately 400 enzymatic reactions that convert compounds into the building blocks of life.
WHERE:
Phys.org - The research was conducted at the Institute of Molecular Evolution at Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf.
WHEN:
ScienceAlert - The study was published in the journal Science Advances.
WHY:
ScienceAlert - The study aims to address the question of how life emerged from non-living matter and to explore the origins of metabolism.
HOW:
ScienceAlert - The researchers developed a method and algorithm to order core metabolic enzymes in complexity, allowing them to determine which enzymes evolved in which order and to construct a rough timeline of metabolic evolution.
ScienceAlert - The researchers investigated the protein structures of core metabolic enzymes in the genomes of bacteria and archaea and developed a method to order them in complexity.
ScienceAlert - The study suggests that the first life arose in reactive environments, such as hydrothermal vents, where metals acted as catalysts for metabolism.
ScienceAlert - The researchers found that the last universal common ancestor of all cells (LUCA) possessed enzymes for only about half of the metabolic reactions, with the other half catalyzed by environmental metals.
ScienceAlert - The study identified an alternative to ATP for metabolic processes, using phosphite and organic compounds to facilitate reactions.
(UPDATED August 6, 2026 01:16 UTC)
A new study suggests that the origins of life may have occurred independently in two distinct lineages, with researchers stating, "Let's call it by name: we are looking at one origin of the genetic code, but two origins of life." They identified around 400 enzymatic reactions that convert compounds into life's building blocks, emphasizing that these reactions must have passed through intermediate assembly states that were previously hard to pinpoint. The researchers also developed a method to order core metabolic enzymes by complexity, helping to construct a rough timeline of how these enzymes evolved over time.
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(UPDATED August 5, 2026 23:56 UTC)
A groundbreaking study published in Science Advances suggests that life on Earth may have originated twice, with bacteria and archaea independently developing their own metabolic processes. Led by William Martin and an international team of biologists at Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf, the research identified around 400 enzymatic reactions that convert compounds into the essential building blocks of life. The findings propose that the first life forms emerged in reactive environments like hydrothermal vents, where metals acted as catalysts, and even identified an alternative to ATP for metabolic processes using phosphite and organic compounds.