From minerals to molecules
Researchers have demonstrated that iron and nickel minerals found in deep-sea hydrothermal vents can catalyze the formation of amino acids and nucleotides, the building blocks of proteins and DNA, under conditions that mimic early Earth. The study, published June 12 in Science, provides the most compelling experimental evidence yet for the metabolism-first hypothesis of life's origin.
How the experiment worked
The team recreated the high-pressure, high-temperature environment of primordial deep-sea vents in the lab. When iron-nickel sulfide minerals were exposed to a simple mixture of hydrogen, carbon dioxide, and nitrogen, gases believed abundant on early Earth, the minerals acted as catalysts and drove the formation of organic compounds within hours.
Implications for extraterrestrial life
Similar hydrothermal vent systems are believed to exist on Saturn's moon Enceladus and Jupiter's moon Europa. If metal-driven chemistry can generate life's building blocks under early Earth conditions, the same process could be happening on these icy moons today. NASA's upcoming Europa Clipper mission, arriving in 2030, will search for such chemical signatures.