Researchers identify the origins of metabolism

A Rutgers-led study sheds light on one of the most enduring mysteries of science: How did metabolism—the process by which life powers itself by converting energy from food into movement and growth—begin?

To answer that question, the researchers reverse-engineered a primordial protein and inserted it into a living bacterium, where it successfully powered the cell’s metabolism, growth and reproduction, according to the study in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

“We are closer to understanding the inner workings of the ancient cell that was the ancestor of all life on earth—and, therefore, to understanding how life arose in the first place, and the pathways life might have taken on other worlds,” said lead author Andrew Mutter, a post-doctoral associate at Rutgers University’s Department of Marine and Coastal Sciences.

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