Radical study suggests life on Earth arose from non-living matter twice; bacteria and archaea independently evolved free-living states, says William Martin

Researchers led by William Martin at Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf and an international team analyzed genomes, protein structures and early metabolism to rethink life's dawn. They conclude that LUCA, the last universal common ancestor, was not fully alive. It relied on small organic compounds and metals to carry out about half of core metabolic reactions, with the other half catalyzed by metals in the environment at hydrothermal vents.¹²⁵

From this hybrid metabolism, the study argues that bacteria and archaea each created free-living cells independently, signaling two origins of life rather than a single branching event.³⁴

The team compared enzymes across lineages, finding shared elements with LUCA but also unique replacements, a pattern they describe as parallel inventions that solved the same chemistry with different tools. “The simplest interpretation... is that there were two independent transitions,” Martin says, underscoring the claim that two origins of life are possible.

In a striking chemical twist, the researchers showed energy can be stored and transferred without classic enzymes: phosphite reacting with organic molecules, and the metal palladium, can substitute for ATP in certain phosphorylation reactions—an insight they call remarkably enabling early evolution. “When phosphite reacts... phosphite and palladium replace ATP and enzymes; it’s amazing, and it makes early evolution a lot easier to grasp.”

They also note that metals naturally present in vent environments could replace many enzyme-catalyzed steps, reinforcing the idea that the earliest metabolism was a hybrid of enzymatic and metal-catalyzed chemistry.

If confirmed, these findings broaden the origin story of life from a single ancestor to a dual-track emergence, reshaping our understanding of abiogenesis and the resilient creativity of early biochemical evolution.