Discovering the oldest traces of life on Earth using AI

New research combining chemical analysis and AI identifies 3.3 billion-year-old traces of microorganisms, opening up insights into primitive life.

An international team led by the Carnegie Institution for Science in the US used a new method that combines advanced chemical analysis with artificial intelligence (AI). Through this, they discovered the oldest signs of life ever recorded on Earth. Photo: Andrew D. Czaja.

The team also found the earliest evidence of oxygenic photosynthesis using a new method of identifying the organisms' "chemical fingerprints" in ancient rocks. Photo: Katie Maloney.

In a study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, the team analyzed 3.3 billion-year-old sedimentary rocks in South Africa and identified traces of microorganisms – a time when Earth was about a quarter of its current age. Photo: Juan Gaertner/Science Photo Library/Getty Images.

The team also discovered organic molecules in the 2.5 billion-year-old rock, suggesting that marine bacteria were already carrying out oxygen-generating photosynthesis, an activity that later contributed to the oxygenation of the atmosphere. Photo: Andrea Corpolongo/Carnegie Institution for Science.

"Ancient rocks contain many interesting puzzles that tell us the story of life on Earth, but there are always some missing pieces," said Katie Maloney, an associate professor in the Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences at Michigan State University. Photo: scitechdaily.

The new method uses machine learning to distinguish organic molecules of biological origin from those formed by non-biological processes with more than 90% accuracy. The computer analyzes thousands of microscopic molecular fragments – the remnants of biological molecules such as sugars or lipids that have completely broken down over time. Photo: Jana Meixnerova.

According to Associate Professor Maloney, the combination of chemical analysis and machine learning has revealed biological clues about ancient life that were previously unknown. Photo: Benjamin Johnson.

Earth's oldest rocks may provide some clues about the earliest life forms on the blue planet. Photo: Alec Brenner.

The study also suggests that oxygenic photosynthesis may have emerged 800 million years earlier than previously recorded organic evidence. Photo: scitechdaily.

New research pushes back the age at which life can be identified by organic molecules from 1.6 billion years to 3.3 billion years and also distinguishes different forms of life, such as photosynthetic organisms. Photo: Johan Swanepoel - Shutterstock.

Readers are invited to watch the video : Behind the success of scientists. Source: VTV24.

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