The Birth of Cells at Hydrothermal Vents

Hydrothermal vents in deep ocean rifts have generated a lot of excitement as the starting place for life on our planet. Hydrothermal vents represent a dynamic environment which would favor the formation of organic compounds, the “molecules of life,” using simple chemicals in the early oceans. Most recently, scientists have gained insight into the creation of the cell membrane—a structure common to all life forms. Hydrothermal vents may be present in the oceans of moons or rocky planets in our solar system, for example Europa and Enceladus, raising the possibility that life may have started there too. References: Promotion of protocell self-assembly from mixed amphiphiles at the origin of life Sean F Jordan, Hanadi Rammu, Ivan N Zheludev, Andrew M Hartley, Amandine Maréchal, Nick Lane www.nature.com/articles/s41559-019-1015-y CO2 reduction driven by a pH gradient Reuben Hudson, Ruvan de Graaf, Mari Strandoo Rodin, Aya Ohno, Nick Lane, Shawn E. McGlynn, Yoichi M. A. Yamada, Ryuhei Nakamura, Laura M. Barge, Dieter Braun, and Victor Sojo. www.pnas.org/content/117/37/22873 A mild hydrothermal route to fix carbon dioxide to simple carboxylic acids Chao He, Ge Tian, Ziwei Liu, Shouhua Feng pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/ol9025414 For Further reading: The Vital Question. Energy, Evolution, and the Origins of Complex Life by Nick Lane wwnorton.com/books/The-Vital-Question/