The question of how life originated is one of the most important topics in science and beyond. Now the discovery of a relatively simple molecule could finally provide an answer to the question, as well as greatly aid the search for life on other planets.
According to some laboratory studies at Rutgers University, the ideal candidate that may have kick-started metabolic processes on Earth is a simple chemical, called “Nickelback” by researchers (and no, it has nothing to do with the famous rock band).
The substance is a peptide (the constituent of a protein formed by amino acids) and owes its name to the fact that its hydrogen atoms are able to bind two nickel atoms. Amino acids are a building block for life and their presence in meteorites indicates that they were abundant on Earth when life was formed.
“Scientists believe that about 3.5 billion years ago there was a flip, which kickstarted the transition from prebiotic chemistry – the molecules before life – to living biological systems,” said Professor Vikas Nanda. “We are of the opinion that the change was initiated by small proteins which caused the ancient metabolic reactions. And this could be one of those ‘pioneer peptides’.“
Many of the molecules that form life today are extremely complex, while those responsible for the birth of life should have been simpler. Nickelback is the most promising protein found by scientists so far, also due to theabundance of nickel in Earth’s primordial oceans.
The discovery also made astrobiologists from all over the world very happy, since the presence of peptides such as Nickelback could indicate the presence – present or future – of life on other planets. To be able to track down these biosignatures, however, cutting-edge technologies will be needed; the recent proposal of a multi-billion dollar telescope to find aliens that might be ideal.