MSGID: 1:317/3 640c03e9   
   PID: hpt/lnx 1.9.0-cur 2019-01-08   
   TID: hpt/lnx 1.9.0-cur 2019-01-08   
    Rutgers scientists identify substance that may have sparked life on   
   Earth    
    Research could provide clues to extraterrestrial life    
      
     Date:   
         March 10, 2023   
     Source:   
         Rutgers University   
     Summary:   
         A team of scientists dedicated to pinpointing the primordial   
         origins of metabolism -- a set of core chemical reactions that   
         first powered life on Earth -- has identified part of a protein   
         that could provide scientists clues to detecting planets on the   
         verge of producing life.   
      
      
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   FULL STORY   
   ==========================================================================   
   A team of Rutgers scientists dedicated to pinpointing the primordial   
   origins of metabolism -- a set of core chemical reactions that first   
   powered life on Earth -- has identified part of a protein that could   
   provide scientists clues to detecting planets on the verge of producing   
   life.   
      
      
   ==========================================================================   
   The research, published in Science Advances, has important implications   
   in the search for extraterrestrial life because it gives researchers a   
   new clue to look for, said Vikas Nanda, a researcher at the Center for   
   Advanced Biotechnology and Medicine (CABM) at Rutgers.   
      
   Based on laboratory studies, Rutgers scientists say one of the most likely   
   chemical candidates that kickstarted life was a simple peptide with two   
   nickel atoms they are calling "Nickelback" not because it has anything   
   to do with the Canadian rock band, but because its backbone nitrogen   
   atoms bond two critical nickel atoms. A peptide is a constituent of a   
   protein made up of a few elemental building blocks known as amino acids.   
      
   "Scientists believe that sometime between 3.5 and 3.8 billion years ago   
   there was a tipping point, something that kickstarted the change from   
   prebiotic chemistry -- molecules before life -- to living, biological   
   systems," Nanda said. "We believe the change was sparked by a few small   
   precursor proteins that performed key steps in an ancient metabolic   
   reaction. And we think we've found one of these 'pioneer peptides'."   
   The scientists conducting the study are part of a Rutgers-led team called   
   Evolution of Nanomachines in Geospheres and Microbial Ancestors (ENIGMA),   
   which is part of the Astrobiology program at NASA. The researchers are   
   seeking to understand how proteins evolved to become the predominant   
   catalyst of life on Earth.   
      
   When scouring the universe with telescopes and probes for signs of   
   past, present or emerging life, NASA scientists look for specific   
   "biosignatures" known to be harbingers of life. Peptides like nickelback   
   could become the latest biosignature employed by NASA to detect planets   
   on the verge of producing life, Nanda said.   
      
   An original instigating chemical, the researchers reasoned, would need   
   to be simple enough to be able to assemble spontaneously in a prebiotic   
   soup. But it would have to be sufficiently chemically active to possess   
   the potential to take energy from the environment to drive a biochemical   
   process.   
      
   To do so, the researchers adopted a "reductionist" approach: They started   
   by examining existing contemporary proteins known to be associated   
   with metabolic processes. Knowing the proteins were too complex to have   
   emerged early on, they pared them down to their basic structure.   
      
   After sequences of experiments, researchers concluded the best candidate   
   was Nickelback. The peptide is made of 13 amino acids and binds two   
   nickel ions.   
      
   Nickel, they reasoned, was an abundant metal in early oceans. When bound   
   to the peptide, the nickel atoms become potent catalysts, attracting   
   additional protons and electrons and producing hydrogen gas. Hydrogen,   
   the researchers reasoned, was also more abundant on early Earth and   
   would have been a critical source of energy to power metabolism.   
      
   "This is important because, while there are many theories about the   
   origins of life, there are very few actual laboratory tests of these   
   ideas," Nanda said.   
      
   "This work shows that, not only are simple protein metabolic enzymes   
   possible, but that they are very stable and very active -- making them   
   a plausible starting point for life."   
       * RELATED_TOPICS   
             o Matter_&_Energy   
                   # Organic_Chemistry # Biochemistry # Batteries   
             o Earth_&_Climate   
                   # Sustainability # Earth_Science # Geochemistry   
             o Fossils_&_Ruins   
                   # Origin_of_Life # Charles_Darwin # Early_Climate   
       * RELATED_TERMS   
             o Autocatalysis o Paleoclimatology o Earth_science o   
             Structure_of_the_Earth o Earth o Gravitation o Mantle_plume   
             o Protein   
      
   ==========================================================================   
   Story Source: Materials provided by Rutgers_University. Original written   
   by Kitta MacPherson.   
      
   Note: Content may be edited for style and length.   
      
      
   ==========================================================================   
   Journal Reference:   
      1. , Jan A. Siess, Paul M. Molinaro, James J. McCann, Kate M. Waldie,   
      Ronald   
         L. Koder , Paul G. Falkowski, and Vikas Nanda. Design of a minimal   
         di- nickel hydrogenase peptide. Science Advances, 2023 DOI:   
         10.1126/ sciadv.abq1990   
   ==========================================================================   
      
   Link to news story:   
   https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2023/03/230310143648.htm   
      
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