Discovery of a 3.7 Billion-Year-Old Bacterium; Is Humanity Getting Closer to Finding Life on Other Planets?

Scientists have discovered evidence of a bacterium that lived more than 3.7 billion years ago. If confirmed, this bacterium would be the oldest known fossil on Earth. According to USA Today, traces of this bacterium's life were found near hydrothermal vents, fissures on the ocean floor that allowed molten material from the Earth's core to flow into the oceans. If the existence of this bacterium is confirmed, these vents, which are also found on other planets in the solar system, will become a primary center for the search for life on other planets. Dr. Matthew Dodd from University College London and one of the lead researchers of this new discovery states, 'It is very exciting that a form of life emerged shortly after the formation of planet Earth.' The results of this new discovery were published this week in the prestigious journal Nature. Dr. Dodd adds, 'This (new discovery) gives me a lot of hope that we can find life in other parts of the universe.' According to the Los Angeles Times, researchers say their hypothesis about the life of this bacterium stems from testing mineral streaks like iron in very old rocks in Quebec, Canada. The age of the rocks in this area is at least 3.77 billion years and can reach up to 4.28 billion years. There are only five locations in the world where rocks of this age can be found. Dr. Damiano Papino, another lead researcher of this discovery, collected rocks from this area in 2008 and took them to the lab for study. After slicing these rocks into very thin layers, they discovered strands of minerals within them. However, they noticed chemical interactions in some of these mineral strands—like iron—that are similar to interactions with known bacteria. Many scientists specializing in early life forms on Earth say that there is still a long way to go to prove this theory, and these interactions could have arisen from causes other than the existence of a bacterium. According to current scientific belief, Earth is just over 4.5 billion years old. The age of the oldest known elements on it, which are zircons, dates back to 4.3 billion years ago. Based on current findings and research, life began around 3.7 to 3.8 billion years ago with prokaryotic unicellular organisms like bacteria. However, the emergence of life in forms familiar to us began much later, about 570 million years ago, with arthropods and then fish. Mammals began to evolve only 200 million years ago, and 'we' emerged 200,000 years ago. Consequently, the age of 'Homo sapiens' on Earth is about four thousandths of a percent of its beginning.