New Clues to Chemical Origins of Metabolism at Dawn of Life | Quanta Magazine

New Clues to Chemical Origins of Metabolism at Dawn of Life | Quanta Magazine

The easy way to modern metabolism

The biochemical process of metabolism could have formed easily from just two simple organic compounds reacting in water. The foundational chemical process known as the tricarboxylic acid (TCA) cycle, the citric-acid cycle or the Krebs cycle, whether it’s breaking down food into energy or transforming carbon dioxide into fats and sugars, is at the heart of much of modern biology. Researchers found that the two small compounds glyoxylate and pyruvate reacted at moderate temperatures and acidity levels to make a range of compounds relevant to the TCA cycle. “Basically, we looked at what small molecules would have been available and what would be their chemistry,” said origins-of-life researcher Ramanarayanan Krishnamurthy. “We were following rather than leading the chemistry,” added chemist Greg Springsteen.

Quanta | 7 min readReference: Nature Chemistry paper

The easy way to modern metabolism

The biochemical process of metabolism could have formed easily from just two simple organic compounds reacting in water. The foundational chemical process known as the tricarboxylic acid (TCA) cycle, the citric-acid cycle or the Krebs cycle, whether it’s breaking down food into energy or transforming carbon dioxide into fats and sugars, is at the heart of much of modern biology. Researchers found that the two small compounds glyoxylate and pyruvate reacted at moderate temperatures and acidity levels to make a range of compounds relevant to the TCA cycle. “Basically, we looked at what small molecules would have been available and what would be their chemistry,” said origins-of-life researcher Ramanarayanan Krishnamurthy. “We were following rather than leading the chemistry,” added chemist Greg Springsteen.

Quanta | 7 min readReference: Nature Chemistry paper