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Assumed age of LUCA: 4.2 billion years. Age of Solar system: 4.6 billion years. LUCA had ribosomes. A ribosome is assembled and shaped by about 200 different pr
by atemerev 2y ago
Assumed age of LUCA: 4.2 billion years. Age of Solar system: 4.6 billion years. LUCA had ribosomes. A ribosome is assembled and shaped by about 200 different proteins, it is an ultra-complicated molecular machine.
Conclusion: pre-LUCA evolution and abiogenesis did not happen on Earth, or even in the Solar system.
Corollary: life (at least on some primitive level) is probably common in the Universe, or at least in our local area of the galaxy.
- ForTheKidz 2y agoI find it curious that you're choosing an article that strengthens the general case for abiogenesis on which to opine this point.
- atemerev 2y agoI am not doubting abiogenesis itself; I am just noting that most probably it didn't happen on Earth. The article merely shows yet another pathway to producing complex organic molecules. There is an immense gap between complex organic molecules (and even possible self-replicating molecules) and an actual ribosome, which existed back at LUCA time.
- stvltvs 2y ago400 million years is a fucking long time. If the right conditions existed, I don't have any problem believing abiogenesis happened here on Earth, even with the first part of that during the Hadean lava world.
- atemerev 2y agoIt is a fucking long time, but the ribosome is fucking complex (and ribosome biogenesis is _particularly_ fucking complex). My Fermi estimation skills give me the probability of ribosome evolving on Earth as "fucking whatever, more research needed". Though in my heart I doubt it. Wouldn't everyone.