All Origins of life articles – Page 3
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ResearchEvidence emerges from the deep of Earth's first amino acids
Geochemical processes shows how buildings blocks for life on Earth may have been synthesised
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Research
Biomarker evidence that Dickinsonia were first animals
Analysis places unusual ovular organism on multicellular branch of phylogenetic tree
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Research
Bubbly protocells bob up and down
Enzymes inflate or consume oxygen bubbles making clay capsules float and sink reversibly
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Research
Chemical analysis adds to evidence for early microfossils
Well-preserved samples enable examination of intact microstructures rather than powdered material
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Research
Prebiotically plausible version of pH gradient generating catalyst
Scientists create simple metal ion system could have facilitated early metabolic processes, like ATP synthesis
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Research
Parasitic self-replicating molecules consume their creators
Simple chemicals display life-like behaviour
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News
ExoMars rover will carry tiny organic chemistry lab
Probe will drill down beneath the surface of the red planet in search of evidence life once existed there
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Opinion
The scientists who create life
Chemistry has created life for 100 years – but where can it lead us?
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Research
Insights into nucleobase repair on Archean Earth
Self-repair mechanism may be part of nucleic acids’ evolutionary advantage
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Opinion
Revisiting Richard Dawkins' idea of replication
Why The selfish gene is only part of the story
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Research
Photoredox sugar synthesis plausible on early Earth
Study using prebiotically realistic wavelengths adds weight to origin-of-life theory
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Research
Meteorites' mechanical energy might have created building blocks of life
Did a cosmic impact kick-start amino acid formation?
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Research
Robot with AI brain learns to evolve synthetic protocells
Evolution of oil-in-water system guided by machine learning offers insight into origins of life
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Feature
Life on other planets
A series of missions to the moons of Jupiter and Saturn has revealed their potential to harbour life. Nina Notman looks to the skies
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Research
Enzyme-free reaction cycles hint at primitive precursor to metabolism
Reactions between small carboxylates and a hydrogen peroxide catalyst resemble the modern citric acid cycle
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Research
Fossil isotopes reveal life’s diversity 3.5 billion years ago
Early microbes evolved distinct metabolisms based around hydrogen sulfide and methane
