How to find living beings in the stromatolites

2008/04/01 Elhuyar Zientzia Iturria: Elhuyar aldizkaria

• Biokimika
• Mikrobiologia
• Geologia

French researchers find a way in the stromatolites to find remains of the first living. The stromatolites are stone structures formed by the accumulation of carbonated materials for millions of years, in which hides the footprint of the first living beings of the Earth, the microbes of 3,500 million years.

The problem is that stromatolites can contain other components, in addition to microbial calcium carbonate. As in caves stalactites and stalagmites form, they can be formed only with mineral precipitations.

Scientists, therefore, sought a way to search for remains of living beings among the stromatolites. French researchers have achieved this using advanced methods of microscopy and spectroscopy. Several cells of organic matter have been detected in the form of cells inside the rocks using STXM microscopy and molecules produced exclusively by microbes, such as carboxylic acid, through NEXAFS spectroscopy.