On the nature of the earliest known life forms
D. Kanaparthi, F. Westall, M. Lampe, B. Zhu, T. Boesen, A. Klingl, P. Schwille, T. Lueders
This study reconstructs Archaean microfossils by transforming a bacterium into a lipid vesicle-like state, showing they likely represent liposome-like protocells with energy conservation but no morphology regulation.
bioRxiv · Aug 16, 2021Evolutionary Biology