<
https://theconversation.com/some-of-earths-most-ancient-lifeforms-can-live-on-hydrogen-and-we-can-learn-from-their-chemical-powers-231382>
"Three-quarters of all matter in the universe is made up of hydrogen. The young
Earth was also rich in hydrogen, thanks to fierce geological and volcanic
activity.
Just as stars burn hydrogen to produce heat and light through nuclear
reactions, life emerged by extracting energy from this simple molecule via
chemical reactions.
Some of these early life forms were archaea: an enigmatic third form of life
only discovered in the 1970s. (The other two forms are bacteria and eukaryotes,
the group that includes all animals, plants and fungi.)
We have studied thousands of species of archaea to understand how they have
thrived for billions of years on our constantly changing planet. In their
genetic blueprints we found instructions for producing special enzymes (called
hydrogenases) to harvest energy from hydrogen gas, which lets them survive in
some of the most punishing environments on Earth. Our latest research is
published in
Cell and
Nature Communications."
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
