>"New research reveals LUCA, Earth’s last universal common ancestor, was a complex organism shaping early ecosystems 4.2 billion years ago."
The study details LUCA's age, genetic makeup, metabolism, and ecological role, suggesting life may have emerged rapidly after Earth's formation and could exist on other planets.
* LUCA lived around 4.2 billion years ago, potentially before the Late Heavy Bombardment.
* Researchers used a refined molecular clock analysis focusing on gene duplication *before* LUCA’s emergence.
* LUCA’s genome was surprisingly complex, containing at least 2.5 megabases and around 2,600 proteins.
* Evidence suggests LUCA possessed an early form of an immune system, indicating the presence of viruses at the time.
* LUCA utilized anaerobic metabolism (acetogenesis) and fed on hydrogen and carbon dioxide.
* LUCA’s metabolic byproducts served as a food source for other microbes, forming early recycling ecosystems.
* Shared traits like the universal genetic code and ATP reliance trace back to LUCA.
* The research combined fossil records, isotopic data, genetic timelines, and biogeochemical models.
* The study suggests life may have emerged rapidly after Earth’s formation, and could potentially exist on other planets.
The study details LUCA's age, genetic makeup, metabolism, and ecological role, suggesting life may have emerged rapidly after Earth's formation and could exist on other planets.
* LUCA lived around 4.2 billion years ago, potentially before the Late Heavy Bombardment.
* Researchers used a refined molecular clock analysis focusing on gene duplication *before* LUCA’s emergence.
* LUCA’s genome was surprisingly complex, containing at least 2.5 megabases and around 2,600 proteins.
* Evidence suggests LUCA possessed an early form of an immune system, indicating the presence of viruses at the time.
* LUCA utilized anaerobic metabolism (acetogenesis) and fed on hydrogen and carbon dioxide.
* LUCA’s metabolic byproducts served as a food source for other microbes, forming early recycling ecosystems.
* Shared traits like the universal genetic code and ATP reliance trace back to LUCA.
* The research combined fossil records, isotopic data, genetic timelines, and biogeochemical models.
* The study suggests life may have emerged rapidly after Earth’s formation, and could potentially exist on other planets.
- Evolution is seen as a highly path-dependent process due to its historical nature, but outcomes could have varied.
- Convergence and constraints significantly limit evolutionary designs, suggesting that not all possibilities are realized.
- Fundamental constraints are inherent in the logic of living matter, influencing evolutionary outcomes.
- Examples of constraints include thermodynamics in living systems, linear molecular information, cellular composition, multicellularity, cognitive system computations, and ecosystem architecture.
- The study provides evidence for these constraints and proposes pathways for a defined theoretical framework.
- Convergence and constraints significantly limit evolutionary designs, suggesting that not all possibilities are realized.
- Fundamental constraints are inherent in the logic of living matter, influencing evolutionary outcomes.
- Examples of constraints include thermodynamics in living systems, linear molecular information, cellular composition, multicellularity, cognitive system computations, and ecosystem architecture.
- The study provides evidence for these constraints and proposes pathways for a defined theoretical framework.
The clearest picture yet of LUCA suggests it was a relatively complex organism living 4.2 billion years ago, a time long considered too harsh for life to flourish.
The paper proposes the "law of increasing functional information," a new law of nature that could help explain the evolution of complex systems across multiple scales in the universe, from atoms and molecules to stars and brains.
These systems are characterized by three attributes: they form from numerous components, processes generate numerous configurations, and configurations are preferentially selected based on function.
The law suggests that functional information of a system will increase over time when subjected to selection for function(s). The authors argue this law could help predict the behavior of these systems and provide a unified framework for understanding their evolution.
They suggest it could be a missing piece in our understanding of the universe.
These systems are characterized by three attributes: they form from numerous components, processes generate numerous configurations, and configurations are preferentially selected based on function.
The law suggests that functional information of a system will increase over time when subjected to selection for function(s). The authors argue this law could help predict the behavior of these systems and provide a unified framework for understanding their evolution.
They suggest it could be a missing piece in our understanding of the universe.
P1. Loss function. In any evolving system, there exists a loss function of time-dependent variables that is minimized during evolution.
P2. Hierarchy of scales. Evolving systems encompass multiple dynamical variables that change on different temporal scales (with different characteristic frequencies).
P3. Frequency gaps. Dynamical variables are split among distinct levels of organization separated by sufficiently wide frequency gaps.
P4. Renormalizability. Across the entire range of organization of evolving systems, a statistical description of faster-changing (higher-frequency) variables is feasible through the slower-changing (lower-frequency) variables.
P5. Extension. Evolving systems have the capacity to recruit additional variables that can be utilized to sustain the system and the ability to exclude variables that could destabilize the system.
P6. Replication. In evolving systems, replication and elimination of the corresponding information-processing units (IPUs) can take place on every level of organization.
P7. Information flow. In evolving systems, slower-changing levels absorb information from faster-changing levels during learning and pass information down to the faster levels for prediction of the state of the environment and the system itself.
P2. Hierarchy of scales. Evolving systems encompass multiple dynamical variables that change on different temporal scales (with different characteristic frequencies).
P3. Frequency gaps. Dynamical variables are split among distinct levels of organization separated by sufficiently wide frequency gaps.
P4. Renormalizability. Across the entire range of organization of evolving systems, a statistical description of faster-changing (higher-frequency) variables is feasible through the slower-changing (lower-frequency) variables.
P5. Extension. Evolving systems have the capacity to recruit additional variables that can be utilized to sustain the system and the ability to exclude variables that could destabilize the system.
P6. Replication. In evolving systems, replication and elimination of the corresponding information-processing units (IPUs) can take place on every level of organization.
P7. Information flow. In evolving systems, slower-changing levels absorb information from faster-changing levels during learning and pass information down to the faster levels for prediction of the state of the environment and the system itself.
