Close X
Saturday, November 30, 2024
ADVT 
Health

Can you believe it? Metabolism existed even before origin of life, reveales study

Darpan News Desk IANS, 25 Apr, 2014 11:34 AM
  • Can you believe it? Metabolism existed even before origin of life, reveales study
The mystery behind how the first organisms on earth could have become metabolically active has been unlocked.
 
Researchers from University of Cambridge have reconstructed ancient ocean to speculate how primitive cells learned to synthesise their organic components - the molecules that form RNA, lipids and amino acids. 
 
Almost four billion years ago, life on earth began in iron-rich oceans that dominated the surface of the planet. 
 
“The conditions and molecules found in the earth's ancient oceans assisted and accelerated the interconversion of metabolites that in modern organisms make up glycolysis and the pentose-phosphate pathways - two of the essential and most centrally placed reaction cascades of metabolism,” explained Markus Ralser from department of biochemistry at University of Cambridge.
 
A reconstruction of earth's earliest ocean in the lab revealed the spontaneous occurrence of the chemical reactions used by modern cells to synthesise many of the crucial organic molecules of metabolism. 
 
Previously, it was assumed that these reactions were carried out in modern cells by metabolic enzymes.
 
“Finding a series of reactions that resembles the `core of cellular metabolism' suggests that metabolism predates the origin of life,” Ralser noted.
 
This implies that, at least initially, metabolism may not have been shaped by evolution but by molecules like RNA formed through the chemical conditions that prevailed in the earliest oceans.
 
According to Ralser, “In the reconstructed version of the ancient Archean ocean, these metabolic reactions were particularly sensitive to the presence of ferrous iron that helped catalyse many of the chemical reactions that we observed”. 
 
The study was published in the journal Molecular Systems Biology.

MORE Health ARTICLES

How bariatric surgery can help control diabetes

How bariatric surgery can help control diabetes
That bariatric surgery, or obesity surgery, leads to weight loss is well known, but researchers have now identified the mechanism why obesity surgery also leave positive effects on diabetes and heart diseases.

How bariatric surgery can help control diabetes

Now, 3D-printed plaster cast to heal wound faster

Now, 3D-printed plaster cast to heal wound faster
In what could revolutionise plaster cast technology, a Turkish design student has unveiled a slick 3D-printed cast with ventilation holes that reduces healing time by around 40 percent than currently used plaster casts.

Now, 3D-printed plaster cast to heal wound faster

Smart cup that delivers coffee, news too!

Smart cup that delivers coffee, news too!
Reading the morning newspaper while sipping a cup of coffee is set to become an even smoother experience as a Finnish coffee roastery company has developed a smart coffee cup that could also display an e-paper.

Smart cup that delivers coffee, news too!

An 'upside-down planet' discovered

An 'upside-down planet' discovered
Like so many interesting discoveries, this one happened largely by accident. An astronomer has discovered an ‘upside-down planet’ that reveals new method for studying binary star systems.

An 'upside-down planet' discovered

Our ancestors enjoyed summer holidays at Antartica!

Our ancestors enjoyed summer holidays at Antartica!
If this information stands true, the history books have to be rewritten soon. According to scientists, some parts on the coldest region on our earth - Antartica - was as warm as today's California coast.

Our ancestors enjoyed summer holidays at Antartica!

Garnish food with edible flowers for disease-free life!

Garnish food with edible flowers for disease-free life!
Forget food, try some flowers instead to increase immunity. If we go by a new research, common edible flowers in China are rich in phenolics and have excellent antioxidant capacity.

Garnish food with edible flowers for disease-free life!