August 1, 2008
1 min read
Add Us On GoogleAdd SciAmReconstructing the Very First Cell
By Nikhil Swaminathan
On supporting science journalism
If you're enjoying this article, consider supporting our award-winning journalism by subscribing. By purchasing a subscription you are helping to ensure the future of impactful stories about the discoveries and ideas shaping our world today.
Unlike modern cells, with their mitochondria, pores, nuclei and such, the very first cell, which emerged some 3.5 billion years ago, was simple. It probably consisted of just a membrane with genetic information inside—raising the question of how it could take in nutrients and reproduce. Harvard Medical School researchers have built a model of what the first cell may have looked like. Using fatty acids that likely existed on a primeval Earth, they created a membrane porous enough to let in nutrients but strong enough to protect the genetic material inside. In a test tube of water, the fatty acids formed into a ring around a strip of DNA. The investigators also added nucleotides—units of genetic material—which entered the cell, latched onto the DNA and replicated it over 24 hours. Scientists now must figure out how the original and copycat DNA strands can separate, which would enable the cell to divide and reproduce. The study turned up in the June 12 Nature.
It’s Time to Stand Up for Science
If you enjoyed this article, I’d like to ask for your support. Scientific American has served as an advocate for science and industry for 180 years, and right now may be the most critical moment in that two-century history.
I’ve been a Scientific American subscriber since I was 12 years old, and it helped shape the way I look at the world. SciAm always educates and delights me, and inspires a sense of awe for our vast, beautiful universe. I hope it does that for you, too.
If you subscribe to Scientific American, you help ensure that our coverage is centered on meaningful research and discovery; that we have the resources to report on the decisions that threaten labs across the U.S.; and that we support both budding and working scientists at a time when the value of science itself too often goes unrecognized.
In return, you get essential news, captivating podcasts, brilliant infographics, can't-miss newsletters, must-watch videos, challenging games, and the science world's best writing and reporting. You can even gift someone a subscription.
There has never been a more important time for us to stand up and show why science matters. I hope you’ll support us in that mission.
