Produced by: BT Desk
A groundbreaking study published in eLife reveals how gas flow over water in early Earth environments may have triggered nucleic acid replication, providing a plausible setting for the emergence of life.
Nucleic acids like RNA not only stored genetic information but also catalyzed their own replication, mutating and evolving. This essential function may have driven the early stages of life on Earth.
Water moving through volcanic rock pores, dried by gas, likely created ideal conditions for RNA synthesis, explaining how volcanic islands on early Earth could have been the cradle for life.
In lab experiments, researchers found that DNA strands accumulated threefold at the gas-water interface within five minutes, and thirtyfold after an hour—suggesting that such environments concentrated genetic material for replication.
The study uncovered that salt concentration changes at the gas-water interface could drive DNA strand separation, a critical step in replication. This discovery challenges previous assumptions about temperature-driven processes.
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A lab model mimicking early Earth rock pores showed successful DNA replication in constant temperatures. When exposed to combined water and gas influx, the experiment resulted in increased double-stranded DNA synthesis.
Researchers found that circular fluid flow near the gas-water interface, caused by gas flux, helped force nucleic acids through varying salt concentrations, leading to DNA strand separation—a vital step for replication.
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Unlike previous theories that required temperature changes, this study demonstrated that replication could occur without thermal variation. Instead, salt fluctuations triggered by gas-water interactions played a central role.
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This research significantly extends the range of plausible geological environments that could support the replication of nucleic acids on early Earth, suggesting that life could have emerged in simpler, more common settings than previously thought.
The discovery opens up new possibilities for the existence of life beyond Earth, as similar gas-water interactions in extraterrestrial environments may provide the conditions needed for nucleic acid replication and life to thrive.