Scientists have discovered signs of primordial life in a ruby that is believed to be around 2.5 billion years old.
The evidence is based on the existence of graphite within the ruby which they believe was left by early life forms which existed long before complex multi-cell organisms.
The ruby itself was formed as a result of extreme heat and pressure at a time when the Earth was vastly different than it is today. This also means that it is not possible that the organism entered the ruby after it was formed. The scientists are able to tell that the graphite is of biological origin because it is carbon-12 as opposed to the non-biological carbon-14. Carbon-12 is only found within living organisms and the scientists can therefore be sure that the traces within the ruby came from very early life.
Chris Yakymchuk, a geologist at the University of Waterloo in Canada, told journalists:
"The graphite inside this ruby is really unique. It's the first time we've seen evidence of ancient life in ruby-bearing rocks. The presence of graphite also gives us more clues to determine how rubies formed at this location, something that is impossible to do directly based on a ruby's colour and chemical composition. Living matter preferentially consists of the lighter carbon atoms because they take less energy to incorporate into cells. Based on the increased amount of carbon-12 in this graphite, we concluded that the carbon atoms were once ancient life, most likely dead microorganisms such as cyanobacteria."
It was Yakymchuk's team that discovered the ruby while carrying our research deep underground, which they hope will give insight into the nature of the planet billions of years ago.
The earliest life on Earth is believed to have formed around 3.5 billion years ago, but there is still much scholarly debate on the subject. New Scientist magazine breaks down the evolution of early life and says:
"[3.5 billion years] This is our current "best guess" for the beginning of life on Earth. It is distinctly possible that this date will change as more evidence comes to light. The first life may have developed in undersea alkaline vents, and was probably based on RNA rather than DNA. At some point far back in time, a common ancestor gave rise to two main groups of life: bacteria and archaea."
[Based on repporting by: science alert]
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