![The origin of life is the first, arguably, the most important and also the most enigmatic major transition in evolution (MTE). [q-bio.PE]](https://i0.wp.com/astrobiology.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/The-first.png?resize=1200%2C718&ssl=1)
[q-bio.PE] As all MTE, the transition at the origin of life can be constructively addressed only within the conceptual framework of multilevel selection. The two levels of selection relevant for […]
q-bio.PE
![Distribution and protein structures of ancestral energy conservation enzymes in bacteria and archaea. For escape as free-living cells, metabolism had to achieve the state of a balanced stoichiometric reaction145, called redox balance in physiology, and the exergonic reactions of electron transfer from H2 to CO2 needed to be coupled to the pumping of ions from the inside of the cell to the outside (chemiosmotic coupling), as in modern cells. Prior to the coupling of CO2 reduction to ion pumping, the natural pH gradient provided by serpentinizing systems (pH 9–11, vs. sea water (pH 6.5146) was harnessable with the help of simple, abiotically synthesized hydrophobics147,148 such as fatty acids, which were recently shown to support the ATP-synthesizing function of a rotor-stator ATPase149. -- [q-bio.PE]](https://i0.wp.com/astrobiology.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/Intermediate.png?resize=1200%2C721&ssl=1)
Posted inOrigin & Evolution of Life
Intermediate Stages In The Origin Of Metabolism At A Phosphorylating Hydrothermal Vent
[q-bio.PE] The origin of life required the emergence of metabolism, an autocatalytic network of enzymatic reactions that synthesize amino acids, nucleotides and cofactors. At the origin of metabolism there were […]
Posted inOrigin & Evolution of Life
Causal Architecture Dynamics Prior to Arrival of Self-replicators in a Model of Catalytic Networks Relevant to Origin-of-Life
[q-bio.PE] Agents that exert causal power in the world are thought to be the product of selection among diverse replicators; what is the causal structure of a medium before replicators […]
Posted inIntelligence & Language, Interstellar, Origin & Evolution of Life, SETI & Technosignatures, Status Report
Algorithmic Bottlenecks In Evolution: Genetic code, Symbolic Language, And The GreatFilter Hypothesis
The Great Filter hypothesis proposes that the emergence of technological societies capable of interstellar travel depends on a small number of exceptionally hard and highly improbable steps.
Posted inBiogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Genomics, Proteomics, Bioinformatics, Origin & Evolution of Life, Status Report
Deep-time Consistency In Proteome Elemental Composition Across Cellular And Viral Life
Proteins are constructed from a limited alphabet of ~20 amino acids, yet the origins and selection of this specific alphabet are unresolved.
Posted inAstrochemistry, Biochemistry & Organic Chemistry, Biophysics, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Genomics, Proteomics, Bioinformatics, Meteorites & Asteroids, Microbiology & Virology, Origin & Evolution of Life, Status Report
Heuristic Model On The Origin Of The Homochirality Of Life
Life demonstrates remarkable homochirality of its major building blocks: nucleic acids, amino acids, sugars, and phospholipids. We propose a mechanism that places the root of life homochirality in the formation […]
Posted inAstrochemistry, Biochemistry & Organic Chemistry, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Biophysics, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Genomics, Proteomics, Bioinformatics, Habitable Zones, Origin & Evolution of Life, Status Report
Milestones At The Origin of Life
Living organisms have some common structures, chemical reactions and molecular structures. The organisms consist of cells with cell division, they have homochirality of protein and carbohydrate units, and metabolism, and […]
Posted inAtmospheres, Climate, Weather, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Extremeophiles and Extreme Environments, Fossils & Paleontology, Genomics, Proteomics, Bioinformatics, Microbiology & Virology, Origin & Evolution of Life, Status Report
Reconstructing Early Microbial Life
For more than 3.5 billion years, life experienced dramatic environmental extremes on Earth. These include shifts from oxygen-less to over-oxygenated atmospheres and cycling between hothouse conditions and global glaciations.
Posted inAI - Data - Apps - Cybernetics, Biochemistry & Organic Chemistry, Biophysics, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Fossils & Paleontology, Genomics, Proteomics, Bioinformatics, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Nomenclature, Systematics, Natural History, Origin & Evolution of Life, Status Report
Constructing the Molecular Tree of Life using Assembly Theory and Mass Spectrometry
The connected nature of all life on earth, dating back to the last universal common ancestor (LUCA), has been explored using knowledge of taxonomy and biochemistry, with significant insights enabled […]
Posted inAstrobiology (general), Atmospheres, Climate, Weather, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Gaia - Planetary Perspectives, Origin & Evolution of Life, Status Report
What Doesn’t Kill Gaia Makes Her Stronger
Life on Earth has experienced numerous upheavals over its approximately 4 billion year history. In previous work we have discussed how interruptions to stability lead, on average, to increases in […]