The possible origin of the first cell biosystem in the thermal subsurface environment of the earth.
Bacteria are the simplest living biosystems or organisms that exhibit all the characteristics of life. As such, they are excellent models to examine the cell as the basic unit of life and the cell theory which states that all organisms are composed of one or more similar cells. In this article I examine the hypothesis that the primordial soup so often referred to in science was possibly an oil/water interface and/or emulsion in the Earth's, warm, anaerobic subsurface. This warm subsurface location, protected from surface radiation, could have been a favourable location for the assembly of the first bacterial cells on the Earth capable of growth and controlled division or the first biosystem.
Trevors
Jack T
JT
Department of Environmental Biology, University of Guelph, Ontario, Canada. jtrevors@uoguelph.ca
D001419:Bacteria / Q000166:cytology / Q000254:growth & development; D018407:Bacterial Physiological Phenomena; D005075:Biological Evolution; D002477:Cells; D018534:Earth, Planet; D057927:Hydrophobic and Hydrophilic Interactions; D000069497:Origin of Life; D013696:Temperature