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The last universal common ancestor lived off #hydrogen gas and carbon dioxide, boasted a genome as large as that of some modern #bacteria, and already had an immune system

Its genomic complexity suggests that it was one of many lineages living about 4.2 billion years ago, a turbulent time early in Earth’s history and long thought too harsh for life to flourish.

#Life evolved from a simple replicator into something resembling modern microbes very quickly.

#abiogenesis
quantamagazine.org/all-life-on…

#life #hydrogen #bacteria #abiogenesis

Mikko Tuomi reshared this.

in reply to Martin Vermeer FCD

Martin Vermeer FCD
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Martin Vermeer FCD
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And by the way, if there only was 200 Ma to go from 'prebiotic soup' to an organism as complex as this, that suggests that also 'abiogenesis', the formation of the first self-replicating organism from inorganic raw materials, would have taken remarkably little time. Making it more likely that it also happened in a great many other suitable places throughout the universe!
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