Complex Life's First Milestone

Hydrothermal vent at the bottom of the ocean

     In regards to the origins of complex life forms, one theory is globally accepted. This is the theory that RNA strands were being continuously formed in the mixing pot that was the prehistoric ocean. These strands would grow and reproduce until longer, more complex chains formed actual life-forms such as early amoebas and worms. Scientists have now discovered how it may have been possible that complex RNA strands out-competed simple, shorter ones.

     Technically speaking, shorter RNA strands can reproduce more efficiently because, although they are more primitive, with less material to copy the process is quicker. However, an article in Science Magazine claims that pores in the rocks surrounding hydrothermal vents in the oceans floor may have created the perfect breeding ground for the complex RNA strands, that eventually lead to us. The superheated water that emerges from these fissures is highly enriched with nutrients. Through a physical effect known as thermophoresis, “charged molecules in a solution accumulate in colder water, and the longer chains, having more charge, would do this more often than shorter chains”. Add this save haven, porous environment, together with the flow of nutrients and temperature changes from hydrothermal vents, and the result is much more efficient reproduction.

     This theory was recreated in a laboratory experiment that resulted in the longer strands reproducing much better inside the pores, leading to larger and more stable populations. The new findings may have opened a door to better understanding the evolution and origins of complex life, and the environments that made it possible.