early life

A team proposes that the addition of a small accessory subunit to the carbon-fixing enzyme was key to improving its catalytic properties and specificity to CO₂.

A team of researchers in Australia have imaged fossilized soft organs of early jawed vertebrates for the first time, finding that our ancient fish ancestors’ hearts, livers, and stomachs are strikingly similar to ours.

Researchers propose that some of the planet’s earliest photosynthesizers benefited from a slowing of the Earth’s rotation that allowed them to produce a surplus of oxygen and paved the way for more complex life.  

If confirmed, the findings indicate that animals appeared on Earth millions of years earlier than previously believed.

In mice, epigenetic marks made on histones during infancy influence depression-like behavior during adulthood. A drug that reverses the genomic tags appears to undo the damage.

Electrical storms, rather than meteorites as scientists had previously thought, could have unlocked phosphorus necessary for the development of ancient life, according to a new study.

A new study finds mixtures of nucleotide types, rather than pure systems, are more likely to yield the building blocks of life.

New findings cast doubt on previous claims that structures found preserved in rocks in Greenland are stromatolites, but the original authors say the discrepancy lies in different samples.

Researchers find what appear to be 3.77 billion-year-old hints of microbial life hidden in Canadian rocks, but some scientists are not convinced.

New research uncovers previously unappreciated insights into the evolution of the well-studied energy-producing process.

In Chapter 9, “Life Gave Earth the Blues,” author Dorion Sagan addresses the planet’s exuberant color palette, evoking the contribution of industrious microbes.