The last universal common ancestor between ancient Earth chemistry and the onset of genetics

2018/08/16 by Madeline C. Weiss, Martina Preiner, Joana C. Xavier +2 · 1 citation
Physics and Astronomy · Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology · #Origins and Evolution of Life #Photosynthetic Processes and Mechanisms #Microbial Metabolic Engineering and Bioproduction #Biology #Abiogenesis #Ancestor #Darwinism #Evolutionary biology #Genome #Most recent common ancestor #Genetic code #TRACE (psycholinguistics) #Biological evolution #Phylogenetics #Genetics #Gene #Philosophy #History

paper · pdf · doi:10.1371/journal.pgen.1007518

openalex publication_date 2018/08/16 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/08/05

Abstract

All known life forms trace back to a last universal common ancestor (LUCA) that witnessed the onset of Darwinian evolution. One can ask questions about LUCA in various ways, the most common way being to look for traits that are common to all cells, like ribosomes or the genetic code. With the availability of genomes, we can, however, also ask what genes are ancient by virtue of their phylogeny rather than by virtue of being universal. That approach, undertaken recently, leads to a different view of LUCA than we have had in the past, one that fits well with the harsh geochemical setting of early Earth and resembles the biology of prokaryotes that today inhabit the Earth's crust.

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Cited by

• History of life [wikipedia]