Could hydrothermal vents have acted as the first biological incubators?
In short: For a long time, the origin of life was viewed primarily as a question of chemistry. However, new insights from biology suggest that life may have begun when geological forces provided the necessary energy to drive growth through electrochemical charges.
All modern living cells rely on a 'proton motive force'—electrochemical charges maintained across thin lipid membranes—to function. While scientists can observe how protein machines generate these charges at an atomic resolution, the mystery remains: how did membrane bioenergetics first emerge? Nick Lane, a professor of evolutionary biochemistry at University College London, proposes that the answer lies in the environment rather than just in complex molecules. Current research utilizes gene sequences and observations of cell growth under extreme conditions to gain these biological insights. Scientists are now able to study these electrical charges produced by protein machines at a virtually atomic resolution.
Lane contends that life's inception required electrochemical charges maintained by geological processes across semiconducting barriers. He suggests that hydrothermal vent environments may have served as 'incubators,' providing the continuous energy flow required for the formation of new organic matter. In this view, these vents provided the necessary conditions to drive growth in a manner similar to how modern cells operate. This theory suggests that geologically sustained charges across semiconducting barriers were essential for both energy flow and the creation of organic matter. Such environments could have acted as the primary drivers for early biological growth.
By tracing cellular evolution back through the last universal common ancestor, Lane's research explores how energy flow shapes the broad sweep of evolution. His work focuses on how these energetic constraints influence everything from the origin of life to the development of complex multicellular organisms. This shift from pure chemistry to a bioenergetic perspective offers a new way to understand how life transitioned from geological forces to biological complexity. Lane's expertise in evolutionary biochemistry helps explain how these energetic constraints influence the emergence of complex multicellular organisms. He also serves as a co-director at the Centre for Life’s Origins and Evolution at UCL.
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Sources
- Summary by Intellect · source: Energy and Matter at the Origin of Life - Nick Lane
- Also: SFI Community Lecture - Energy and Matter at the Origin of Life | Santa Fe Institute
- Also: mediacentral.ucl.ac.uk — - Energy and matter at the origin of life - Prof Nick Lane (UCL), APEX Seminar 2021-11-18
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