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   PID: hpt/lnx 1.9.0-cur 2019-01-08   
   TID: hpt/lnx 1.9.0-cur 2019-01-08   
    New models shed light on life's origin    
    The research reveals clues about the physical and chemical   
   characteristics of Earth when life is thought to have emerged.    
      
     Date:   
         February 10, 2023   
     Source:   
         University of Rochester   
     Summary:   
         Researchers from the University of Rochester and the University   
         of Colorado Boulder used experiments and zircon chemistry to build   
         more accurate computer models of fluids that act as pathways from   
         inner Earth to Earth's surface. The models allow researchers to   
         simulate what metals may have been transported to Earth's surface   
         when life first emerged, about four billion years ago. The research   
         has important implications not only for discovering the origins   
         of life but also in the search for life on other planets.   
      
      
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   FULL STORY   
   ==========================================================================   
   The first signs of life emerged on Earth in the form of microbes about   
   four billion years ago. While scientists are still determining exactly   
   when and how these microbes appeared, it's clear that the emergence   
   of life is intricately intertwined with the chemical and physical   
   characteristics of early Earth.   
      
      
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   "It is reasonable to suspect that life could have started differently   
   -- or not at all -- if the early chemical characteristics of our planet   
   were different," says Dustin Trail, an associate professor of earth and   
   environmental sciences at the University of Rochester.   
      
   But what was Earth like billions of years ago, and what characteristics   
   may have helped life to form? In a paper published in Science, Trail   
   and Thomas McCollom, a research associate at the University of Colorado   
   Boulder, reveal key information in the quest to find out. The research   
   has important implications not only for discovering the origins of life   
   but also in the search for life on other planets.   
      
   "We are now at an exciting time in which humankind is searching for   
   life on other planets and moons, as well as in other planetary systems,"   
   Trail says.   
      
   "But we still do not know how -- or even when, really -- life started on   
   our own planet. Research like ours helps identify specific conditions and   
   chemical pathways that could have supported the emergence of life, work   
   which is certain to factor prominently into the search for life outside of   
   our planet."  The importance of metals in the emergence of life Research   
   into life and its origins typically involves a variety of disciplines   
   including genomics, the study of genes and their functions; proteomics,   
   the study of proteins; and an emerging field called metallomics, which   
   explores the important role of metals in performing cellular functions. As   
   life evolved, the need for certain metals changed, but Trail and McCollom   
   wanted to determine what metals may have been available when microbes   
   first appeared billions of years ago.   
      
   "When hypotheses are proposed for different origin-of-life scenarios,   
   scientists have generally assumed all metals were available because there   
   weren't studies that provided geologically robust constraints on metal   
   concentrations of fluids for the earliest times of Earth's history,"   
   Trail says.   
      
   To address this shortcoming, Trail and McCollom studied the composition   
   and characteristics of fluids in the lithosphere -- the outer layer   
   of Earth that includes the crust and upper mantle -- billions of years   
   ago. These lithospheric fluids are key pathways to transport dissolved   
   parts of rocks and minerals between Earth's interior and hydrothermal   
   pools in its exterior where microbial life could have formed. While   
   researchers cannot directly measure the metals that existed billions of   
   years ago, by determining the properties of the fluids, they can infer   
   what metals -- and the concentrations of the metals - - could feasibly   
   have been transported between Earth's interior and exterior during the   
   time when life emerged on the planet.   
      
   Clues in billion-year-old minerals Billion-year-old rocks and minerals   
   are often the only direct sources of information about Earth's earliest   
   history. That's because the rocks and minerals lock in information about   
   the composition of Earth at the time they are formed.   
      
   The researchers conducted high-pressure, high-temperature experiments and   
   applied these results to early-Earth zircons, a robust type of mineral   
   collected at sites in Western Australia, to determine the oxygen pressure,   
   chlorine content, and temperature of lithospheric fluids billions of   
   years ago.   
      
   They then input this information into computer models. The models allowed   
   them to simulate the properties of the lithospheric fluids, and, in turn,   
   simulate which metals could have travelled through the fluids to reach   
   hydrothermal pools at Earth's surface.   
      
   Understanding how life originated The researchers were surprised by   
   what the model simulations indicated. Many origin-of-life researchers,   
   for instance, consider copper a likely component in the chemistry that   
   could have led to life. But Trail and McCollom did not find evidence that   
   copper would have been abundant under the constraints in their analysis.   
      
   One metal they did test that may have been available in high   
   concentrations was manganese. While it is rarely considered in   
   origin-of-life scenarios, today manganese helps the body form bones and   
   assists enzymes in breaking down carbohydrates and cholesterol.   
      
   "Our research shows that metals like manganese may function as important   
   links between the 'solid' Earth and emerging biological systems at   
   Earth's surface," Trail says.   
      
   Trail says the research will help scientists studying the origin of life   
   to input more concrete data into their experiments and models.   
      
   "Experiments designed with this information in mind will result in a   
   better understanding of how life originated."   
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   ==========================================================================   
   Story Source: Materials provided by University_of_Rochester. Original   
   written by Lindsey Valich. Note: Content may be edited for style and   
   length.   
      
      
   ==========================================================================   
   Journal Reference:   
      1. Dustin Trail and Thomas M. McCollom. Relatively oxidized fluids fed   
         Earth's earliest hydrothermal systems. Science, 2023 DOI: 10.1126/   
         science.adc8751   
   ==========================================================================   
      
   Link to news story:   
   https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2023/02/230210185150.htm   
      
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