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Common Ancestor of All Cellular Life on Earth Emerged Very Early in Planet’s History

JacksinPA

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Common Ancestor of All Cellular Life on Earth Emerged Very Early in Planet?s History | Genetics, Paleontology | Sci-News.com

New research from the Universities of Bristol and Bath suggests life originated on our planet a lot earlier than previously thought.

The fossil record of early life is extremely fragmented, and its quality significantly deteriorates further back in time towards the Archean eon, more than 2.5 billion years ago, when the Earth’s crust had cooled enough to allow the formation of continents and the only life forms were microbes.

Now University of Bristol researcher Holly Betts and colleagues have used a combination of genomic and fossil data to explain the history of life on Earth, from its origin to the present day.
===============================================
Using different approaches, the scientists were able to estimate that the Last Universal Common Ancestor (LUCA) of cellular life appeared nearly 4.5 billion years ago. This was almost immediately after the formation of the Earth which is estimated to be 4.543 billion years.
 
Theists are not going to be happy about this.
 
Common Ancestor of All Cellular Life on Earth Emerged Very Early in Planet?s History | Genetics, Paleontology | Sci-News.com

New research from the Universities of Bristol and Bath suggests life originated on our planet a lot earlier than previously thought.

The fossil record of early life is extremely fragmented, and its quality significantly deteriorates further back in time towards the Archean eon, more than 2.5 billion years ago, when the Earth’s crust had cooled enough to allow the formation of continents and the only life forms were microbes.

Now University of Bristol researcher Holly Betts and colleagues have used a combination of genomic and fossil data to explain the history of life on Earth, from its origin to the present day.
===============================================
Using different approaches, the scientists were able to estimate that the Last Universal Common Ancestor (LUCA) of cellular life appeared nearly 4.5 billion years ago. This was almost immediately after the formation of the Earth which is estimated to be 4.543 billion years.

And now comes the problem: Multicellular life began only 600 million years ago. So the common ancestor of all multicellular life is about 3.9 billion years younger.

 
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Regarding the development of multi-cellular life, this abstract (Natl. Library of Medicine (NIH) - Fair Use does not apply) on quorum sensing in bacteria makes note at the end that the ability of single celled organisms to communicate with each other looks to be an essential component in the development of multi-celled life:

Annu Rev Microbiol. 2001;55:165-99.
Quorum sensing in bacteria.
Miller MB1, Bassler BL.

Abstract
Quorum sensing is the regulation of gene expression in response to fluctuations in cell-population density. Quorum sensing bacteria produce and release chemical signal molecules called autoinducers that increase in concentration as a function of cell density. The detection of a minimal threshold stimulatory concentration of an autoinducer leads to an alteration in gene expression. Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria use quorum sensing communication circuits to regulate a diverse array of physiological activities. These processes include symbiosis, virulence, competence, conjugation, antibiotic production, motility, sporulation, and biofilm formation. In general, Gram-negative bacteria use acylated homoserine lactones as autoinducers, and Gram-positive bacteria use processed oligo-peptides to communicate. Recent advances in the field indicate that cell-cell communication via autoinducers occurs both within and between bacterial species. Furthermore, there is mounting data suggesting that bacterial autoinducers elicit specific responses from host organisms. Although the nature of the chemical signals, the signal relay mechanisms, and the target genes controlled by bacterial quorum sensing systems differ, in every case the ability to communicate with one another allows bacteria to coordinate the gene expression, and therefore the behavior, of the entire community. Presumably, this process bestows upon bacteria some of the qualities of higher organisms. The evolution of quorum sensing systems in bacteria could, therefore, have been one of the early steps in the development of multicellularity.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/11544353

See also https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quorum_sensing.
 
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A problem is a difficulty where someone found words to express it. So a problem is a good thing and not a bad thing. Shortest way to show the problem: A nearly endless number of single cells during a nearly endless time of pre-history did not mutate to multi-cellular life forms although the planet Earth is directly in the middle of a habitable zone in a very circular orbit with a stable rotation. So we have to say the existence of multi cellular life forms is nearly impossíble. It may happen we will destroy all multi-cellular life in the universe, if we will continue to destroy the life on planet Earth. Maybe god will become very angry when we will destroy his living creation and so I will not go to him in the end of time to tell him: "Sorry, we made a mistake". I will send you to tell him this. Now you have a problem.

 
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Cells consist of an outer membrane in which are found a large number of proteins. If we should find an environment where there is found a very large concentration of cells. There is a finite chance that 2 or more cells will 'stick' together via hydrogen bonding or lipophobic/lipophilic attraction. These paired cells can give rise to larger aggregations of these cells. And when they divide, you have a primitive multi-cellular organism. Again, I don't see the problem here. The cells are already communication via the quorum sensing mechanism, so I think them sticking together is a highly likely scenario.
 
Theists are not going to be happy about this.

Don't see why. The easiest thing in the world is to debunk a creation myth but that doesnt say anything about the existence or not of God
 
Don't see why. The easiest thing in the world is to debunk a creation myth but that doesnt say anything about the existence or not of God

One argument is that a god uses evolution for his amusement. What else would it have to do? Watch as a cosmic pinball machine plays out its game.
 
In their natural habitats bacteria predominantly live in cell aggregates and biofilms. Cells within these multicellular structures have physiological properties that distinguish them from freely suspended cells. An important property of aggregated cells is a higher tolerance against stresses, such as toxic chemicals.
====================================
So preservation against negative external forces drives multi-cellularity.

Exopolysaccharides appear to be more important to multi-cellularity than protein-protein interaction.
 
And now comes the problem: Multicellular life began only 600 million years ago. So the common ancestor of all multicellular life is about 3.9 billion years younger.



And that is a problem because? Don't tell me that evolution by "chance" is a problem with that incredibly long time frame. Microbes needed to "condition" the Earth for multi-cellular life and it took billions of years before it could happen.
 
And that is a problem because? Don't tell me that evolution by "chance" is a problem with that incredibly long time frame. Microbes needed to "condition" the Earth for multi-cellular life and it took billions of years before it could happen.

So? I don't see your point.

The earth was mostly water at the start. When land appeared, bacteria could concentrate in small tidal pools & link up to become the first multi-cellular organisms. Nobody had to condition anything. It just happened. That's why we're here.
 
So? I don't see your point.

The earth was mostly water at the start. When land appeared, bacteria could concentrate in small tidal pools & link up to become the first multi-cellular organisms. Nobody had to condition anything. It just happened. That's why we're here.

Small problem with that. It now appears there was little or no water when Earth formed as a red hot magma planet it was deposited by asteroids over eons after the crust cooled. Then there is the fact that there was no oxygen in the air either, it took photosynthesis more eons to produce enough atmospheric oxygen for animal life.

https://www.livescience.com/33391-where-did-water-come-from.html
 
Small problem with that. It now appears there was little or no water when Earth formed as a red hot magma planet it was deposited by asteroids over eons after the crust cooled. Then there is the fact that there was no oxygen in the air either, it took photosynthesis more eons to produce enough oxygen for animal life.

https://www.livescience.com/33391-where-did-water-come-from.html

The origin in life could wait for the proper conditions, as could the origin of multi-cellular life.

Oxygen is toxic to microorganisms so detoxifying systems evolved early where an enzyme called luciferase combined with oxygen to oxidize substrates to produce light. So luminescence evolved early which is why it is found in so many different types of creatures today.

Animal life requiring oxygen came much later after the origins. The Cambrian Explosion resulted from there being enough free oxygen to crosslink collagen fibers to form stable 3-D structures that could be fossilized.
 
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And that is a problem because?

The senselessness of billions of years biological evolution.

Don't tell me that evolution by "chance" is a problem with that incredibly long time frame. Microbes needed to "condition" the Earth for multi-cellular life and it took billions of years before it could happen.
 
And that is a problem because?

The senselessness of billions of years biological evolution.

Don't tell me that evolution by "chance" is a problem with that incredibly long time frame. Microbes needed to "condition" the Earth for multi-cellular life and it took billions of years before it could happen.

If the universe would not exist then our species would not have to be the most contemptible killer species planet Earth ever had to see.

 
This here is by the way the correct interpretation of the "Ride of the Valkyries":

 
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The senselessness of billions of years biological evolution.

Evolution, by definition, has no prefixed goal. Humans, for example, were never destined to learn languages, fashion tools, etc.
 
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Evolution, by definition, has no prefixed goal. Humans, for example, were never destined to learn languages, fashion tools, etc.

Do you know that to be fact, and how so? Do not respond with a question as to why I might disagree, if I knew the answer I would not be asking.
 
Common Ancestor of All Cellular Life on Earth Emerged Very Early in Planet?s History | Genetics, Paleontology | Sci-News.com

New research from the Universities of Bristol and Bath suggests life originated on our planet a lot earlier than previously thought.

The fossil record of early life is extremely fragmented, and its quality significantly deteriorates further back in time towards the Archean eon, more than 2.5 billion years ago, when the Earth’s crust had cooled enough to allow the formation of continents and the only life forms were microbes.

Now University of Bristol researcher Holly Betts and colleagues have used a combination of genomic and fossil data to explain the history of life on Earth, from its origin to the present day.
===============================================
Using different approaches, the scientists were able to estimate that the Last Universal Common Ancestor (LUCA) of cellular life appeared nearly 4.5 billion years ago. This was almost immediately after the formation of the Earth which is estimated to be 4.543 billion years.

Let's wait and see down the road, if this hypothesis will hold. It wasn't too long ago when science admitted that:


Flawed analysis casts doubt on years of evolutionary research
October 25, 2016, University of Bristol

Read more at: https://phys.org/news/2016-10-flawed-analysis-years-evolutionary.html#jCp
 
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