Prebiotic organomineralization: Shedding light on the earliest evidence for life on Earth

This proposal investigates the time window before life (prebiotic), challenging the biotic origin of the earliest macroscopic evidence of life on Earth.

Through inventive laboratory experiments, we aim to explore the abiotic organo-geochemical processes that may have contributed to the formation of the earliest Archean stromatolites.

This proposal considers how little warm pond environments on the Early Earth’s surface may have promoted the polymerization of organic molecules via wet-dry cycles and influenced the nucleation and growth of carbonate minerals.

Building on our long expertise in microbial organomineralization, we aim to differentiate the formation mechanisms and distinctive features of organominerals and biominerals, using an interdisciplinary experimental and analytical approach to replicate Archean Earth in the lab.

The proposal details four Work Packages covering the entire process of Prebiotic Organo-Carbonate (PO-C) formation: organofilm formation and mineralization, emergence of macroscopic PO-C deposits, and early diagenetic process. This study may change our view of life’s early development on Earth.

Instead of arising fully formed within stromatolites, life may have gradually emerged from prebiotic organic-mineral interactions that stabilized the environment and enabled the assembly of essential components for the first active cells and biofilms. The implications extend well beyond our planet, offering applications for the search for extraterrestrial life