Protobiont
A protobiont is a hypothetical precursor of (unicellular) life. It consists of a lipid membrane , abiotic proteins and nucleic acids , as well as a simple device for generating energy and transmitting information. Due to the nature of the earth 4 billion years ago, the primordial organism must have been anaerobic , hyperthermophilic , halophilic and chemolithoautotrophic .
This probable stage in the development of life is called part of the RNA world . Presumably there was an inclusion of peptides , polynucleotides , perhaps even entire hypercycles within a membrane. This made mutual metabolic reactions possible. In further evolutionary steps, the DNA became the information carrier and the RNA took over the function of mediator between DNA and protein. The protocyte gradually emerged .
Sidney W. Fox and Alexander Iwanowitsch Oparin carried out experiments that proved the possibility of spontaneous autosynthesis of protobionts as soon as certain elements were contained in the primordial soup.
See also
Individual evidence
- ↑ Cornell University : Proto Cells: What did the early proto cells look like? Archive version dated February 4, 2012