Researchers resurrect ancient enzymes to reveal conditions of early life on Earth
Tuesday, April 12, 2011 - 07:31
in Paleontology & Archaeology
(PhysOrg.com) -- Scientists from Columbia University, Georgia Institute of Technology and the University of Granada have for the first time reconstructed active enzymes from four-billion-year-old extinct organisms. By measuring the properties of these enzymes, they can examine the conditions in which the extinct organisms lived. The results shed new light on how life has adapted to changes in the environment from ancient to modern Earth.