ReviewPLoS genetics2018
The last universal common ancestor between ancient Earth chemistry and the onset of genetics.
Review in PLoS genetics, 2018. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 78 papers.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
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Who cites it
78 citing papers in PubMed.
- Early Evolution of the Prokaryotic Transcription Factor Repertoire.Genome biology and evolution · 2026Article
- Article
- The Evolution of the First Code.Genes · 2026Review
- From peptides to DNA: All required steps can be catalyzed.Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America · 2026Article
- Selection for growth drives the emergence of genetic heredity in protocells.PLoS biology · 2026Article
- Iron and the immune system.Nature reviews. Immunology · 2025Review
- The Origin of Life and Cellular Systems: A Continuum from Prebiotic Chemistry to Biodiversity.Life (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Article
- Origins of life: the possible and the actual.Philosophical transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B, Biological sciences · 2025Article
- Absence of gut microbiota alleviates iron overload-induced colitis by modulating ferroptosis in mice.Journal of advanced research · 2025Article
- Review
- DPANN Archaea and CPR Bacteria: insights into early cellular evolution?Philosophical transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B, Biological sciences · 2025Review
- Dysregulation of Labile Iron Predisposes Chemotherapy Resistant Cancer Cells to Ferroptosis.International journal of molecular sciences · 2025Article
- Carbon fluxes rewiring in engineered E. coli via reverse tricarboxylic acid cycle pathway under chemolithotrophic condition.Journal of biological engineering · 2025Article
- Chemical Evolution of Life on Earth.Genes · 2025Review
- Evolution of the ocular immune system.Eye (London, England) · 2025Review
- Article
- HParasitology research · 2024Review
- Alternative sources of molybdenum for Methanococcus maripaludis and their implication for the evolution of molybdoenzymes.Communications biology · 2024Article
- RNA or DNA? Revisiting the Chemical Nature of the Cenancestral Genome.Journal of molecular evolution · 2024Article
- Volatile Organic Compound Metabolism on Early Earth.Journal of molecular evolution · 2024Article
18 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
5 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
All known life forms trace back to a last universal common ancestor (LUCA) that witnessed the onset of Darwinian evolution. One can ask questions about LUCA in various ways, the most common way being to look for traits that are common to all cells, like ribosomes or the genetic code. With the availability of genomes, we can, however, also ask what genes are ancient by virtue of their phylogeny rather than by virtue of being universal. That approach, undertaken recently, leads to a different view of LUCA than we have had in the past, one that fits well with the harsh geochemical setting of early Earth and resembles the biology of prokaryotes that today inhabit the Earth's crust.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.