Genes, Not Cells, Were Earth’s First Organisms
Genes, Not Cells, Were Earth’s First Organisms
And Are Earth’s Primal Organisms
(a recapitulation)
A. Pushing back an oxygen-rich atmosphere date
http://www.sciencenews.org/view/generic/id/41755/title/Pushing_back_an_oxygen-rich_atmosphere
Hematite crystals in Australian rocks hint that Earth’s atmosphere was oxygenated earlier than previously thought.
There’s evidence of eukaryotic life, i.e. monocellular organisms with DNA sequestered in a protective nucleus, from roughly 1.9 billion years ago. Multicellular animals appear on the scene much later.
Large quantities of oxide minerals in rocks around the world indicate that the atmosphere had at least small amounts of oxygen by 2.2 billion years ago. The presence of certain biomarkers in Australian rocks has been hailed as evidence that oxygen-making organisms had evolved by 2.7 billion years ago, but recent studies have cast some doubt on that earlier date.
Now, analyses of rocks laid down 3.46 billion years ago in what is now Australia push back the oxygen era even further, Hiroshi Ohmoto, a geochemist at Pennsylvania State University in University Park, and his colleagues contend online March 15 in Nature Geoscience.
B. Earliest single-celled organisms
(Forwarded) If the 4.6 billion Earth years are compressed into a single year: the Precambrian Era, evolution of first life forms, extends from January 1 to mid-November; the Paleozoic Era, evolution of invertebrates and primitive fishes, extends through the rest of November and part of December, and the Mesozoic, era of dinosaurs, takes up most of the remainder of December. Our time, the Quaternary, would occupy only the last four hours on New Year’s Eve.
For most of Earth’s history, there were only single-celled organisms. Fossilised single-celled micro-organisms have been found in rocks 3·5 billion years old.
By 2.4 Ga (gigaannum = 10^9 years) the ratio of stable isotopes of carbon, iron and sulfur shows the action of living things on inorganic minerals and sediments and molecular biomarkers indicate photosynthesis, demonstrating that life on Earth was widespread by then.
C. Revised fixations that cells were the earliest Earth-life’s organisms, and that tie life’s genesis with organic bio-metabolism
These fixations dictate that Earth’s earliest organisms were fueled by netabolically self-generated energy.
But cells were NOT the earliest Earth-life’s organisms. Genes, Not Cells, Were Earth’s First Organisms, And Are Earth’s Primal Organisms.
Cells are no more organisms than future manned spaceships would be organisms. The innner and outermost cell membranes are multi-functional organs evolved and produced by the organisms that reside within the outermost membrane, as would be the spaceship’s inner and outermost skins-walls produced by their residents, even if the membranes are organic whereas the skins-walls are not. And undoubtedly the capabilities of multi-functional spaceship skins-walls would be far below those of cell’s membranes.
The primal genes came into being, phased from polymers into replicating beings, organisms, by absorbed sun energy, and proceeded to carry on their life during daylight times, fueled solely by sun energy, and this most probably was the state of life affair until sometime earlier than 3.5 Ga, which is when fossilised single-celled micro-organisms have been found in rocks.
D. It is thus rationally possible to de-couple life’s genesis and onset of bio-metabolism,
and to update the comprehension of the nature of Earth life per
Life’s Manifest
http://www.the-scientist.com/community/posts/list/112.page#578
Dov Henis
(Comments From The 22nd Century)
EVOLUTION Beyond Darwin 200
http://www.the-scientist.com/community/posts/list/100/122.page#1407