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

Drinking milk can delay knee problem in women

Drinking milk can delay knee problem in women
Women who frequently consume fat-free or low-fat milk may delay the progression of osteoarthritis (OA) of the knee, research indicates.

Drinking milk can delay knee problem in women

e-cigarettes next big smoking poison, warns study

e-cigarettes next big smoking poison, warns study
The fast spreading e-cigarettes are undoing the anti-smoking efforts of the last three decades, health experts warn. Also, the number of people being poisoned by e-cigarettes in the US has gone up manifold in the last few years, according to official reports.

e-cigarettes next big smoking poison, warns study

Tiny robot that performs surgery via belly button!

Tiny robot that performs surgery via belly button!
Imagine a tiny robot that can enter your body via small belly button precision, perform surgery and return to its base peacefully.

Tiny robot that performs surgery via belly button!

An app to test your eyes anywhere on earth

An app to test your eyes anywhere on earth
In a ground-breaking innovation that could help prevent blindness in millions across the world, scientists have developed an app that allows eye tests anywhere.

An app to test your eyes anywhere on earth

High temperature reduces length of pregnancy: Study

High temperature reduces length of pregnancy: Study
If you are pregnant and wish a full-term delivery, it is better to shift to a colder place before the mercury goes up as high temperature may reduce the length of your pregnancy, research indicates.

High temperature reduces length of pregnancy: Study

Astronauts' space odyssey alters their hearts for 'bad'

Astronauts' space odyssey alters their hearts for 'bad'
In an alarming revelation, a new study finds that astronauts' hearts become more spherical when exposed to long periods of microgravity in space -- a change that could lead to cardiac problems when they are back on earth.

Astronauts' space odyssey alters their hearts for 'bad'