It remains one of the most accepted and controversial theories in the scientific world that living things have evolved and continue to evolve through natural selection throughout history. So, where do the foundations of evolution begin?
Although most people think of cellular-sized creatures, this is not the case. In fact, a new study has offered important clues about the common ancestor of all living things on Earth. Evolution continued even when there was no living thing on earth.
Let’s explain it slowly: The living world owes its existence to 20 amino acids:
Proteins, which play critical roles in the functioning of our cells, are formed by different sequences of only 20 amino acids. But in nature and in the universe, there are actually not so few amino acids. For example, 85 different amino acids were found in a meteorite that fell over Australia in 1969 alone.
So why did nature choose only the 20 amino acids that make up life as we know it today? The scientific world assumes that 10 of these 20 amino acids originate from the atmosphere and meteorites during the formation of the Earth. However, there was no information on the selection of the other 10 amino acids.
New research sheds light on how that choice was made:
In a new study published by the American Chemical Society, scientists simulated the Earth about 4.6 billion years ago. The simulation recreated primitive protein synthesis on Earth.
The 20 amino acids present in all living things, from bacteria to humans, were selected through natural selection, according to simulation. It was seen that he chose organic compounds, amino acids that will form proteins, considering the benefit that the protein would offer according to its function.
In other words, not the most abundant amino acid in nature, but the amino acids that would contribute the most to the task of the protein were chosen.
This proved that there was natural selection even in chemical molecules before there was life on our planet. In this way, the source of 10 amino acids, the choice of which is mysterious, has a new theory.
You can access the research by clicking this link.
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