Yes, you read that correctly.
Over the course of history, cyanide has deservedly earned its reputation as an immensely toxic poison.
Back then, the world looked very different.
The oxygen we breathe, for instance, didn’t yet exist.
“But it may not be poisonous if biology knows how to handle it.”
It was all surprisingly straightforward.
“That kind of scares you sometimes, when it is so simple,” Krishnamurthy said.
What really happened 4 billion years ago?
Way (way) later, all that stuff turned into us.
This eight-step biological process uses proteins to form compounds that sustain life.
But here’s the problem: the early Earth’s environment wasn’t ideal for r-TCA.
Oxygen wasn’t around when our orb was younger, neither were the proteins that push the cycle along.
And I mean extreme.
Chemists have to sort of throw everything together, apply the conditions, wait and watch.
While such experiments do yield r-TCA compounds, it’s difficult to prove they truly came from the cycle.
Essentially, it’s unclear whether r-TCAreallyhappened 4 billion years ago.
It seemed to tell the story of early Earth life in a significantly easier way.
Although, the researchers are taking their results with a grain of salt.
It need not be what biology was based on 4 billion years ago."
Krishnamurthy paints a wonderful analogy on how to digest the concept.
They were made from steel, using cranes and huge pieces of equipment.
“We are looking at biology now, which is this huge, beautiful building,” Krishnamurthy said.
“We are letting chemistry tell us,” Krishnamurthy said.
“Rather than assuming we already know what biology should’ve been 4 billion years ago.
“We don’t.”
