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randomImmigranttoday at 2:14 PM2 repliesview on HN

The metabolic science is really cool. The conclusion that life arose twice requires you to buy that proto-cells that grew on these vents and needed those metallic surfaces to survive didn’t count as “life”. Then, free living cells, bacteria and archea, could maybe be argued as having independent paths as they plugged the gaps in their metabolism independently. Same DNA/RNA, same proteins. Same broad rules of metabolism. Just some alternate paths through chemical space to plug in the metabolic gaps and get free from metal surfaces.

To me, these are clearly not independent paths, but rather the branching of proto-life into two of the great kingdoms of life. It’s a stretch to call this two origins rather than a branching.

Then a couple billion years later, one of em ate the other, and rather than destroy it, they both started a symbiotic relationship, and we were off to the eukaryotic race. This is all the same web of life. Not two independent streams.


Replies

mycalltoday at 2:39 PM

You would think there would be some isolated places where proto-life still exists for this to be true.

show 2 replies
ck2today at 2:22 PM

the Great Oxidation Event caused all kinds of crazy stress = crazy mutations/adaptations where one eventually started our path

* https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Oxidation_Event

one of my absolute favorite PBS Space Time on the subject

* https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=abvzkSJEhKk