110-675: (Redirected from Lifes ) [REDACTED] Look up lives in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. Lives may refer to: The plural form of a life Lives, Iran , a village in Khuzestan Province, Iran The number of lives in a video game Parallel Lives , aka Lives of the Noble Greeks and Romans , a series of biographies of famous men, written by Plutarch and thus often called Plutarch's Lives or The Lives of Plutarch LiVES ,
220-420: A double helix . The two DNA strands are known as polynucleotides since they are composed of simpler units called nucleotides . Each nucleotide is composed of a nitrogen-containing nucleobase —either cytosine (C), guanine (G), adenine (A), or thymine (T)—as well as a sugar called deoxyribose and a phosphate group . The nucleotides are joined to one another in a chain by covalent bonds between
330-420: A living systems theory viewpoint that does not necessarily depend on molecular chemistry. One systemic definition of life is that living things are self-organizing and autopoietic (self-producing). Variations of this include Stuart Kauffman 's definition as an autonomous agent or a multi-agent system capable of reproducing itself, and of completing at least one thermodynamic work cycle . This definition
440-428: A nucleus and other membrane-bound organelles , although they have circular DNA and ribosomes . Bacteria and Archaea are two domains of prokaryotes. The other primary type is the eukaryote cell, which has a distinct nucleus bound by a nuclear membrane and membrane-bound organelles, including mitochondria , chloroplasts , lysosomes , rough and smooth endoplasmic reticulum , and vacuoles . In addition, their DNA
550-407: A common origin. All life forms require certain core chemical elements for their biochemical functioning. These include carbon , hydrogen , nitrogen , oxygen , phosphorus , and sulfur —the elemental macronutrients for all organisms. Together these make up nucleic acids , proteins and lipids , the bulk of living matter. Five of these six elements comprise the chemical components of DNA,
660-524: A consequence of these microbial activities, the physical-chemical environment on Earth has been changing on a geologic time scale , thereby affecting the path of evolution of subsequent life. For example, the release of molecular oxygen by cyanobacteria as a by-product of photosynthesis induced global changes in the Earth's environment. Because oxygen was toxic to most life on Earth at the time, this posed novel evolutionary challenges, and ultimately resulted in
770-442: A host cell to make new products. Virus self-assembly within host cells has implications for the study of the origin of life , as it may support the hypothesis that life could have started as self-assembling organic molecules . Some of the earliest theories of life were materialist, holding that all that exists is matter, and that life is merely a complex form or arrangement of matter. Empedocles (430 BC) argued that everything in
880-466: A matter of debate; viruses lack characteristics of life such as cell membranes, metabolism and the ability to grow or respond to their environments. Viruses have been classed into "species" based on their genetics , but many aspects of such a classification remain controversial. The original Linnaean system has been modified many times, for example as follows: The attempt to organise the Eukaryotes into
990-526: A month in a simulated Martian environment . Beyond the Solar System, the region around another main-sequence star that could support Earth-like life on an Earth-like planet is known as the habitable zone . The inner and outer radii of this zone vary with the luminosity of the star, as does the time interval during which the zone survives. Stars more massive than the Sun have a larger habitable zone, but remain on
1100-414: A productive method of remediation is to introduce the extremophile, Thiobacillus ferrooxidans . This extremophile is useful for its bioleaching property. It helps to break down minerals in the waste water created by the mine. By breaking down the minerals Thiobacillus ferrooxidans start to help neutralize the acidity of the waste water. This is a way to reduce the environmental impact and help remediate
1210-448: A resurgence of interest in the work of Russell, Barge and colleagues. Hylomorphism is a theory first expressed by the Greek philosopher Aristotle (322 BC). The application of hylomorphism to biology was important to Aristotle, and biology is extensively covered in his extant writings . In this view, everything in the material universe has both matter and form, and the form of a living thing
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#17331265499891320-801: A set of 355 genes from the last universal common ancestor was tentatively identified. The biosphere is postulated to have developed, from the origin of life onwards, at least some 3.5 billion years ago. The earliest evidence for life on Earth includes biogenic graphite found in 3.7 billion-year-old metasedimentary rocks from Western Greenland and microbial mat fossils found in 3.48 billion-year-old sandstone from Western Australia . More recently, in 2015, "remains of biotic life " were found in 4.1 billion-year-old rocks in Western Australia. In 2017, putative fossilised microorganisms (or microfossils ) were announced to have been discovered in hydrothermal vent precipitates in
1430-605: A short period Linnaeus had classified them in the taxon Vermes in Animalia, but later placed them back in Plantae. Herbert Copeland classified the Fungi in his Protoctista , including them with single-celled organisms and thus partially avoiding the problem but acknowledging their special status. The problem was eventually solved by Whittaker , when he gave them their own kingdom in his five-kingdom system . Evolutionary history shows that
1540-462: A small number of kingdoms has been challenged. The Protozoa do not form a clade or natural grouping, and nor do the Chromista (Chromalveolata). The ability to sequence large numbers of complete genomes has allowed biologists to take a metagenomic view of the phylogeny of the whole tree of life . This has led to the realisation that the majority of living things are bacteria, and that all have
1650-599: A species of Bacillus bacteria survived and were still viable after being heated to temperatures of 420 °C (788 °F). There are many classes of extremophiles that range all around the globe; each corresponding to the way its environmental niche differs from mesophilic conditions. These classifications are not exclusive. Many extremophiles fall under multiple categories and are classified as polyextremophiles . For example, organisms living inside hot rocks deep under Earth's surface are thermophilic and piezophilic such as Thermococcus barophilus . A polyextremophile living at
1760-530: A state of death , and none is immortal . Many philosophical definitions of living systems have been proposed, such as self-organizing systems. Viruses in particular make definition difficult as they replicate only in host cells. Life exists all over the Earth in air, water, and soil , with many ecosystems forming the biosphere . Some of these are harsh environments occupied only by extremophiles . Life has been studied since ancient times, with theories such as Empedocles 's materialism asserting that it
1870-408: A tenth of the speed they would perform at sea level pressure. Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons increase in solubility and bioavailability with increasing temperature. Thermophilic Thermus and Bacillus species have demonstrated higher gene expression for the alkane mono-oxygenase alkB at temperatures exceeding 60 °C (140 °F). The expression of this gene is a crucial precursor to
1980-408: A thousand years. In the late 1740s, Carl Linnaeus introduced his system of binomial nomenclature for the classification of species. Linnaeus attempted to improve the composition and reduce the length of the previously used many-worded names by abolishing unnecessary rhetoric, introducing new descriptive terms and precisely defining their meaning. The fungi were originally treated as plants. For
2090-703: A video editing program and VJ tool "Lives", a song by Daron Malakian and Scars on Broadway from the album Dictator "Lives", a song by Modest Mouse from the album The Moon & Antarctica A short form of Lives of the Most Excellent Painters, Sculptors, and Architects , a 16th-century book by Giorgio Vasari 'LIVES' - Lincolnshire Integrated Voluntary Emergency Service , Prehospital care provider in Lincolnshire, UK See also [ edit ] Live (disambiguation) Life (disambiguation) Living (disambiguation) Topics referred to by
2200-431: Is a major environmental concern associated with many metal mines. This is due to the fact that this highly acidic water can mix with groundwater, streams, and lakes. The drainage turns the pH in these water sources from a more neutral pH to a pH lower than 4. This is close to the acidity levels of battery acid or stomach acid. Exposure to the polluted water can greatly affect the health of plants, humans, and animals. However,
2310-473: Is a mechanistic explanation for the origin of species by means of natural selection . At the beginning of the 20th century Stéphane Leduc (1853–1939) promoted the idea that biological processes could be understood in terms of physics and chemistry, and that their growth resembled that of inorganic crystals immersed in solutions of sodium silicate. His ideas, set out in his book La biologie synthétique , were widely dismissed during his lifetime, but has incurred
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#17331265499892420-556: Is about 4.54 billion years . Life on Earth has existed for at least 3.5 billion years, with the oldest physical traces of life dating back 3.7 billion years. Estimates from molecular clocks, as summarised in the TimeTree public database, place the origin of life around 4.0 billion years ago. Hypotheses on the origin of life attempt to explain the formation of a universal common ancestor from simple organic molecules via pre-cellular life to protocells and metabolism. In 2016,
2530-479: Is being simulated and explored by scientists and engineers. The definition of life has long been a challenge for scientists and philosophers. This is partially because life is a process, not a substance. This is complicated by a lack of knowledge of the characteristics of living entities, if any, that may have developed outside Earth. Philosophical definitions of life have also been put forward, with similar difficulties on how to distinguish living things from
2640-558: Is capable of forming the various specialised cells that form the adult organism. This specialisation allows multicellular organisms to exploit resources more efficiently than single cells. About 800 million years ago, a minor genetic change in a single molecule, the enzyme GK-PID , may have allowed organisms to go from a single cell organism to one of many cells. Cells have evolved methods to perceive and respond to their microenvironment, thereby enhancing their adaptability. Cell signalling coordinates cellular activities, and hence governs
2750-1173: Is capable of natural genetic transformation. Cytoplasmic bridges are formed between cells that appear to be used for DNA transfer from one cell to another in either direction. Sulfolobus solfataricus and Sulfolobus acidocaldarius are hyperthermophilic archaea. Exposure of these organisms to the DNA damaging agents UV irradiation, bleomycin or mitomycin C induces species-specific cellular aggregation. UV-induced cellular aggregation of S. acidocaldarius mediates chromosomal marker exchange with high frequency. Recombination rates exceed those of uninduced cultures by up to three orders of magnitude. Frols et al. and Ajon et al. hypothesized that cellular aggregation enhances species-specific DNA transfer between Sulfolobus cells in order to repair damaged DNA by means of homologous recombination. Van Wolferen et al. noted that this DNA exchange process may be crucial under DNA damaging conditions such as high temperatures. It has also been suggested that DNA transfer in Sulfolobus may be an early form of sexual interaction similar to
2860-422: Is considered the starting point of modern organic chemistry . It is of historical significance because for the first time an organic compound was produced in inorganic reactions. During the 1850s Hermann von Helmholtz , anticipated by Julius Robert von Mayer , demonstrated that no energy is lost in muscle movement, suggesting that there were no "vital forces" necessary to move a muscle. These results led to
2970-489: Is different from Wikidata All article disambiguation pages All disambiguation pages Life Life on Earth: Life is a quality that distinguishes matter that has biological processes , such as signaling and self-sustaining processes, from matter that does not. It is defined descriptively by the capacity for homeostasis , organisation , metabolism , growth , adaptation , response to stimuli , and reproduction . All life over time eventually reaches
3080-421: Is extended by the evolution of novel functions over time. Death is the termination of all vital functions or life processes in an organism or cell. One of the challenges in defining death is in distinguishing it from life. Death would seem to refer to either the moment life ends, or when the state that follows life begins. However, determining when death has occurred is difficult, as cessation of life functions
3190-425: Is its soul (Greek psyche , Latin anima ). There are three kinds of souls: the vegetative soul of plants, which causes them to grow and decay and nourish themselves, but does not cause motion and sensation; the animal soul , which causes animals to move and feel; and the rational soul , which is the source of consciousness and reasoning, which (Aristotle believed) is found only in man. Each higher soul has all of
3300-407: Is most likely to exist, within wide bounds of uncertainty. A "Confidence of Life Detection" scale (CoLD) for reporting evidence of life beyond Earth has been proposed. Artificial life is the simulation of any aspect of life, as through computers, robotics , or biochemistry . Synthetic biology is a new area of biotechnology that combines science and biological engineering . The common goal
3410-470: Is not only plausible, but probable or inevitable, possibly resulting in a biophysical cosmology instead of a mere physical cosmology . Other planets and moons in the Solar System and other planetary systems are being examined for evidence of having once supported simple life, and projects such as SETI are trying to detect radio transmissions from possible alien civilisations. Other locations within
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3520-428: Is often not simultaneous across organ systems. Such determination, therefore, requires drawing conceptual lines between life and death. This is problematic because there is little consensus over how to define life. The nature of death has for millennia been a central concern of the world's religious traditions and of philosophical inquiry. Many religions maintain faith in either a kind of afterlife or reincarnation for
3630-485: Is organised into chromosomes . All species of large complex organisms are eukaryotes, including animals, plants and fungi, though with a wide diversity of protist microorganisms . The conventional model is that eukaryotes evolved from prokaryotes, with the main organelles of the eukaryotes forming through endosymbiosis between bacteria and the progenitor eukaryotic cell. The molecular mechanisms of cell biology are based on proteins . Most of these are synthesised by
3740-579: Is significant because it indicates that not only bacterial spores, but also growing cells can be remarkably resistant to strong UV radiation. In June 2016, scientists from Brigham Young University conclusively reported that endospores of Bacillus subtilis were able to survive high speed impacts up to 299±28 m/s, extreme shock, and extreme deceleration. They pointed out that this feature might allow endospores to survive and to be transferred between planets by traveling within meteorites or by experiencing atmosphere disruption. Moreover, they suggested that
3850-461: Is the case with tailings and sediment released from deep-sea mining activity. While most bacteria would be crushed by the pressure in these environments, piezophiles can tolerate these depths and can metabolize pollutants of concern if they possess bioremediation potential. There are multiple potential destinations for hydrocarbons after an oil spill has settled and currents routinely deposit them in extreme environments. Methane bubbles resulting from
3960-417: Is the design and construction of new biological functions and systems not found in nature. Synthetic biology includes the broad redefinition and expansion of biotechnology, with the ultimate goals of being able to design and build engineered biological systems that process information, manipulate chemicals, fabricate materials and structures, produce energy, provide food, and maintain and enhance human health and
4070-521: Is thus known as a polyextremophile. D. radiodurans is competent to perform genetic transformation . Recipient cells are able to repair DNA damage in donor transforming DNA that had been UV irradiated as efficiently as they repair cellular DNA when the cells themselves are irradiated. The extreme thermophilic bacterium Thermus thermophilus and other related Thermus species are also capable of genetic transformation. Halobacterium volcanii , an extreme halophilic ( saline tolerant) archaeon,
4180-434: Is to define life as "a self-sustained chemical system capable of undergoing Darwinian evolution ", a definition adopted by a NASA committee attempting to define life for the purposes of exobiology , based on a suggestion by Carl Sagan . This definition, however, has been widely criticised because according to it, a single sexually reproducing individual is not alive as it is incapable of evolving on its own. Others take
4290-509: Is unlikely or impossible. Organisms that have a wide range of tolerance are more widely distributed than organisms with a narrow range of tolerance. To survive, some microorganisms have evolved to withstand freezing , complete desiccation , starvation , high levels of radiation exposure , and other physical or chemical challenges. These extremophile microorganisms may survive exposure to such conditions for long periods. They excel at exploiting uncommon sources of energy. Characterization of
4400-471: The Curiosity rover now on the planet Mars. On 20 August 2014, scientists confirmed the existence of microorganisms living half a mile below the ice of Antarctica . In September 2015, scientists from CNR-National Research Council of Italy reported that S. soflataricus was able to survive under Martian radiation at a wavelength that was considered extremely lethal to most bacteria. This discovery
4510-644: The Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant . Radioresistance has also been observed in certain species of macroscopic lifeforms. The lethal dose required to kill up to 50% of a tortoise population is 40,000 roentgens , compared to only 800 roentgens needed to kill 50% of a human population. In experiments exposing lepidopteran insects to gamma radiation , significant DNA damage was detected only at 20 Gy and higher doses, in contrast with human cells that showed similar damage at only 2 Gy. New sub-types of extremophiles are identified frequently and
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4620-469: The Deepwater Horizon oil spill were found 1.1 kilometers below water surface level and at concentrations as high as 183 μ mol per kilogram. The combination of low temperatures and high pressures in this environment result in low microbial activity. However, bacteria that are present including species of Pseudomonas , Aeromonas and Vibrio were found to be capable of bioremediation, albeit at
4730-692: The International Ocean Discovery Program found unicellular life in 120 °C sediment 1.2 km below seafloor in the Nankai Trough subduction zone. According to one researcher, "You can find microbes everywhere—they're extremely adaptable to conditions, and survive wherever they are." The inert components of an ecosystem are the physical and chemical factors necessary for life—energy (sunlight or chemical energy ), water, heat, atmosphere , gravity , nutrients , and ultraviolet solar radiation protection . In most ecosystems,
4840-416: The International Ocean Discovery Program found microorganisms in 120 °C (248 °F) sediment that is 1.2 km (0.75 mi) below seafloor in the Nankai Trough subduction zone. Some microorganisms have been found thriving inside rocks up to 1,900 feet (580 m) below the sea floor under 8,500 feet (2,600 m) of ocean off the coast of the northwestern United States. According to one of
4950-540: The International Space Station , microbes seem to adapt to the space environment in ways "not observed on Earth" and in ways that "can lead to increases in growth and virulence ". On 19 May 2014, scientists announced that numerous microbes , like Tersicoccus phoenicis , may be resistant to methods usually used in spacecraft assembly clean rooms . It is not currently known if such resistant microbes could have withstood space travel and are present on
5060-408: The International Space Station . These findings support the notion of panspermia . Extremophiles can also be useful players in the bioremediation of contaminated sites as some species are capable of biodegradation under conditions too extreme for classic bioremediation candidate species. Anthropogenic activity causes the release of pollutants that may potentially settle in extreme environments as
5170-496: The Nuvvuagittuq Belt of Quebec, Canada that were as old as 4.28 billion years, the oldest record of life on Earth, suggesting "an almost instantaneous emergence of life" after ocean formation 4.4 billion years ago , and not long after the formation of the Earth 4.54 billion years ago. Evolution is the change in heritable characteristics of biological populations over successive generations. It results in
5280-458: The Solar System that may host microbial life include the subsurface of Mars , the upper atmosphere of Venus , and subsurface oceans on some of the moons of the giant planets . Investigation of the tenacity and versatility of life on Earth, as well as an understanding of the molecular systems that some organisms utilise to survive such extremes, is important for the search for extraterrestrial life. For example, lichen could survive for
5390-704: The T. brockianus catalase exhibited a half life of 15 days at 80 °C and pH 10 while a catalase derived from Aspergillus niger had a half life of 15 seconds under the same conditions. The catalase will have applications for removal of hydrogen peroxide in industrial processes such as pulp and paper bleaching, textile bleaching, food pasteurization, and surface decontamination of food packaging. DNA modifying enzymes such as Taq DNA polymerase and some Bacillus enzymes used in clinical diagnostics and starch liquefaction are produced commercially by several biotechnology companies. Over 65 prokaryotic species are known to be naturally competent for genetic transformation,
5500-480: The soul , or resurrection of the body at a later date. Whether or not viruses should be considered as alive is controversial. They are most often considered as just gene coding replicators rather than forms of life. They have been described as "organisms at the edge of life" because they possess genes , evolve by natural selection, and replicate by making multiple copies of themselves through self-assembly. However, viruses do not metabolise and they require
5610-467: The structure and metabolic diversity of microbial communities in such extreme environments is ongoing. The first classification of organisms was made by the Greek philosopher Aristotle (384–322 BC), who grouped living things as either plants or animals, based mainly on their ability to move. He distinguished animals with blood from animals without blood, which can be compared with the concepts of vertebrates and invertebrates respectively, and divided
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#17331265499895720-419: The 1740s. Living things are composed of biochemical molecules , formed mainly from a few core chemical elements . All living things contain two types of large molecule, proteins and nucleic acids , the latter usually both DNA and RNA : these carry the information needed by each species, including the instructions to make each type of protein. The proteins, in turn, serve as the machinery which carries out
5830-454: The Sun-like "main sequence" of stellar evolution for a shorter time interval. Small red dwarfs have the opposite problem, with a smaller habitable zone that is subject to higher levels of magnetic activity and the effects of tidal locking from close orbits. Hence, stars in the intermediate mass range such as the Sun may have a greater likelihood for Earth-like life to develop. The location of
5940-403: The abandonment of scientific interest in vitalistic theories, especially after Eduard Buchner 's demonstration that alcoholic fermentation could occur in cell-free extracts of yeast. Nonetheless, belief still exists in pseudoscientific theories such as homoeopathy , which interprets diseases and sickness as caused by disturbances in a hypothetical vital force or life force. The age of Earth
6050-483: The ability to transfer DNA from one cell to another cell followed by integration of the donor DNA into the recipient cell's chromosome. Several extremophiles are able to carry out species-specific DNA transfer, as described below. However, it is not yet clear how common such a capability is among extremophiles. The bacterium Deinococcus radiodurans is one of the most radioresistant organisms known. This bacterium can also survive cold, dehydration, vacuum and acid and
6160-466: The appearance of new species and often the disappearance of old ones. Evolution occurs when evolutionary processes such as natural selection (including sexual selection ) and genetic drift act on genetic variation, resulting in certain characteristics increasing or decreasing in frequency within a population over successive generations. The process of evolution has given rise to biodiversity at every level of biological organisation . Fossils are
6270-450: The attributes of the lower ones. Aristotle believed that while matter can exist without form, form cannot exist without matter, and that therefore the soul cannot exist without the body. This account is consistent with teleological explanations of life , which account for phenomena in terms of purpose or goal-directedness. Thus, the whiteness of the polar bear's coat is explained by its purpose of camouflage. The direction of causality (from
6380-399: The basic functions of multicellular organisms. Signaling between cells can occur through direct cell contact using juxtacrine signalling , or indirectly through the exchange of agents as in the endocrine system . In more complex organisms, coordination of activities can occur through a dedicated nervous system . Though life is confirmed only on Earth, many think that extraterrestrial life
6490-622: The bioremediation of radionuclides. Uranium is particularly challenging to contain when released into an environment and very harmful to both human and ecosystem health. The NANOBINDERS project is equipping bacteria that can survive in uranium rich environments with gene sequences that enable proteins to bind to uranium in mining effluent, making it more convenient to collect and dispose of. Some examples are Shewanella putrefaciens , Geobacter metallireducens and some strains of Burkholderia fungorum . Radiotrophic fungi , which use radiation as an energy source, have been found inside and around
6600-610: The bioremediation process. Fungi that have been genetically modified with cold-adapted enzymes to tolerate differing pH levels and temperatures have been shown to be effective at remediating hydrocarbon contamination in freezing conditions in the Antarctic. Acidithiubacillus ferroxidans has been shown to be effective in remediating mercury in acidic soil due to its merA gene making it mercury resistant. Industrial effluent contain high levels of metals that can be detrimental to both human and ecosystem health. In extreme heat environments
6710-436: The biosphere, including soil , hot springs , inside rocks at least 19 km (12 mi) deep underground, the deepest parts of the ocean, and at least 64 km (40 mi) high in the atmosphere. For example, spores of Aspergillus niger have been detected in the mesosphere at an altitude of 48 to 77 km. Under test conditions, life forms have been observed to survive in the vacuum of space. Life forms thrive in
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#17331265499896820-457: The blooded animals into five groups: viviparous quadrupeds ( mammals ), oviparous quadrupeds (reptiles and amphibians ), birds, fishes and whales . The bloodless animals were divided into five groups: cephalopods , crustaceans , insects (which included the spiders, scorpions , and centipedes ), shelled animals (such as most molluscs and echinoderms ), and " zoophytes " (animals that resemble plants). This theory remained dominant for more than
6930-483: The breakdown of hydrogen peroxide into oxygen and water, was isolated from an organism, Thermus brockianus , found in Yellowstone National Park by Idaho National Laboratory researchers. The catalase operates over a temperature range from 30 °C to over 94 °C and a pH range from 6–10. This catalase is extremely stable compared to other catalases at high temperatures and pH. In a comparative study,
7040-412: The conditions vary during the day and from one season to the next. To live in most ecosystems, then, organisms must be able to survive a range of conditions, called the "range of tolerance". Outside that are the "zones of physiological stress", where the survival and reproduction are possible but not optimal. Beyond these zones are the "zones of intolerance", where survival and reproduction of that organism
7150-534: The damage caused by the acid mine drainage leaks. Psychrophilic microbes metabolize hydrocarbons which assists in the remediation of hazardous, oil-based pollutants in the Arctic and Antarctic regions. These specific microbes are used in this region due to their ability to perform their functions at extremely cold temperatures. Any bacteria capable of inhabiting radioactive mediums can be classified as an extremophile. Radioresistant organisms are therefore critical in
7260-422: The deep Mariana Trench , and inside rocks up to 580 m (1,900 ft; 0.36 mi) below the sea floor under 2,590 m (8,500 ft; 1.61 mi) of ocean off the coast of the northwestern United States, and 2,400 m (7,900 ft; 1.5 mi) beneath the seabed off Japan. In 2014, life forms were found living 800 m (2,600 ft; 0.50 mi) below the ice of Antarctica. Expeditions of
7370-401: The definition of an extreme environment is relative to an arbitrarily defined standard, often an anthropocentric one, these organisms can be considered ecologically dominant in the evolutionary history of the planet. Some spores and cocooned bacteria samples have been dormant for more than 40 million years; extremophiles have continued to thrive in the most extreme conditions, making them one of
7480-476: The environment. Extremophile An extremophile (from Latin extremus 'extreme' and Ancient Greek φιλία ( philía ) 'love') is an organism that is able to live (or in some cases thrive) in extreme environments , i.e., environments with conditions approaching or stretching the limits of what known life can adapt to, such as extreme temperature , pressure , radiation , salinity , or pH level . Since
7590-523: The exception being sulfur. The latter is a component of the amino acids cysteine and methionine . The most abundant of these elements in organisms is carbon, which has the desirable attribute of forming multiple, stable covalent bonds . This allows carbon-based (organic) molecules to form the immense variety of chemical arrangements described in organic chemistry . Alternative hypothetical types of biochemistry have been proposed that eliminate one or more of these elements, swap out an element for one not on
7700-547: The extremophile Geobacillus thermodenitrificans has been shown to effectively manage the concentration of these metals within twelve hours of introduction. Some acidophilic microorganisms are effective at metal remediation in acidic environments due to proteins found in their periplasm, not present in any mesophilic organisms, allowing them to protect themselves from high proton concentrations. Rice paddies are highly oxidative environments that can produce high levels of lead or cadmium. Deinococcus radiodurans are resistant to
7810-607: The feasibility of panspermia . On 26 April 2012, scientists reported that lichen survived and showed remarkable results on the adaptation capacity of photosynthetic activity within the simulation time of 34 days under Martian conditions in the Mars Simulation Laboratory (MSL) maintained by the German Aerospace Center (DLR). On 29 April 2013, scientists at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute , funded by NASA , reported that, during spaceflight on
7920-409: The formation of colonies of identical cells. These cells can form group organisms through cell adhesion . The individual members of a colony are capable of surviving on their own, whereas the members of a true multi-cellular organism have developed specialisations, making them dependent on the remainder of the organism for survival. Such organisms are formed clonally or from a single germ cell that
8030-470: The formation of Earth's major animal and plant species. This interplay between organisms and their environment is an inherent feature of living systems. The biosphere is the global sum of all ecosystems. It can also be termed as the zone of life on Earth, a closed system (apart from solar and cosmic radiation and heat from the interior of the Earth), and largely self-regulating. Organisms exist in every part of
8140-406: The fungi are more closely related to animals than to plants. As advances in microscopy enabled detailed study of cells and microorganisms, new groups of life were revealed, and the fields of cell biology and microbiology were created. These new organisms were originally described separately in protozoa as animals and protophyta/thallophyta as plants, but were united by Ernst Haeckel in
8250-480: The future to the past) is in contradiction with the scientific evidence for natural selection, which explains the consequence in terms of a prior cause. Biological features are explained not by looking at future optimal results, but by looking at the past evolutionary history of a species, which led to the natural selection of the features in question. Spontaneous generation was the belief that living organisms can form without descent from similar organisms. Typically,
8360-426: The given environment. This implies all or most of the following traits: From a physics perspective, an organism is a thermodynamic system with an organised molecular structure that can reproduce itself and evolve as survival dictates. Thermodynamically, life has been described as an open system which makes use of gradients in its surroundings to create imperfect copies of itself. Another way of putting this
8470-463: The gravity experienced on Earth). P. denitrificans was one of the bacteria which displayed not only survival but also robust cellular growth under these conditions of hyperacceleration which are usually found only in cosmic environments, such as on very massive stars or in the shock waves of supernovas . Analysis showed that the small size of prokaryotic cells is essential for successful growth under hypergravity . The research has implications on
8580-476: The harsh conditions of the environment and are therefore candidate species for limiting the extent of contamination of these metals. Some bacteria are known to also use rare earth elements on their biological processes. For example, Methylacidiphilum fumariolicum , Methylorubrum extorquens , and Methylobacterium radiotolerans are known to be able to use lanthanides as cofactors to increase their methanol dehydrogenase activity. Acid mine drainage
8690-434: The idea was that certain forms such as fleas could arise from inanimate matter such as dust or the supposed seasonal generation of mice and insects from mud or garbage. The theory of spontaneous generation was proposed by Aristotle , who compiled and expanded the work of prior natural philosophers and the various ancient explanations of the appearance of organisms; it was considered the best explanation for two millennia. It
8800-496: The information to be preserved during reproduction and cell division. Within cells, DNA is organised into long structures called chromosomes . During cell division these chromosomes are duplicated in the process of DNA replication , providing each cell its own complete set of chromosomes. Eukaryotes store most of their DNA inside the cell nucleus . Cells are the basic unit of structure in every living thing, and all cells arise from pre-existing cells by division . Cell theory
8910-632: The kingdom Protista ; later, the prokaryotes were split off in the kingdom Monera , which would eventually be divided into two separate groups, the Bacteria and the Archaea . This led to the six-kingdom system and eventually to the current three-domain system , which is based on evolutionary relationships. However, the classification of eukaryotes, especially of protists, is still controversial. As microbiology developed, viruses, which are non-cellular, were discovered. Whether these are considered alive has been
9020-638: The landing of spacecraft may also result in interplanetary spore transfer, given that spores can survive high-velocity impact while ejected from the spacecraft onto the planet surface. This is the first study which reported that bacteria can survive in such high-velocity impact. However, the lethal impact speed is unknown, and further experiments should be done by introducing higher-velocity impact to bacterial endospores. In August 2020 scientists reported that bacteria that feed on air discovered 2017 in Antarctica are likely not limited to Antarctica after discovering
9130-563: The list, or change required chiralities or other chemical properties. Deoxyribonucleic acid or DNA is a molecule that carries most of the genetic instructions used in the growth, development, functioning and reproduction of all known living organisms and many viruses. DNA and RNA are nucleic acids ; alongside proteins and complex carbohydrates , they are one of the three major types of macromolecule that are essential for all known forms of life. Most DNA molecules consist of two biopolymer strands coiled around each other to form
9240-423: The many chemical processes of life. The cell is the structural and functional unit of life. Smaller organisms, including prokaryotes (bacteria and archaea ), consist of small single cells. Larger organisms , mainly eukaryotes , can consist of single cells or may be multicellular with more complex structure. Life is only known to exist on Earth but extraterrestrial life is thought probable . Artificial life
9350-467: The mechanisms of both boron toxicity and boron deficiency. In July 2019, a scientific study of Kidd Mine in Canada discovered sulfur-breathing organisms which live 7,900 feet (2,400 m) below the surface, and which breathe sulfur in order to survive. These organisms are also remarkable due to eating rocks such as pyrite as their regular food source. The thermoalkaliphilic catalase , which initiates
9460-508: The middle of the 19th century. It appealed to philosophers such as Henri Bergson , Friedrich Nietzsche , and Wilhelm Dilthey , anatomists like Xavier Bichat , and chemists like Justus von Liebig . Vitalism included the idea that there was a fundamental difference between organic and inorganic material, and the belief that organic material can only be derived from living things. This was disproved in 1828, when Friedrich Wöhler prepared urea from inorganic materials. This Wöhler synthesis
9570-423: The more well-studied bacterial transformation systems that involve species-specific DNA transfer leading to homologous recombinational repair of DNA damage (and see Transformation (genetics) ). Extracellular membrane vesicles (MVs) might be involved in DNA transfer between different hyperthermophilic archaeal species. It has been shown that both plasmids and viral genomes can be transferred via MVs. Notably,
9680-699: The most abundant lifeforms. The study of extremophiles has expanded human knowledge of the limits of life, and informs speculation about extraterrestrial life . Extremophiles are also of interest because of their potential for bioremediation of environments made hazardous to humans due to pollution or contamination. In the 1980s and 1990s, biologists found that microbial life has great flexibility for surviving in extreme environments—niches that are acidic, extraordinarily hot, or with irregular air pressure for example—that would be completely inhospitable to complex organisms . Some scientists even concluded that life may have begun on Earth in hydrothermal vents far beneath
9790-448: The non-living. Legal definitions of life have been debated, though these generally focus on the decision to declare a human dead, and the legal ramifications of this decision. At least 123 definitions of life have been compiled. Since there is no consensus for a definition of life, most current definitions in biology are descriptive. Life is considered a characteristic of something that preserves, furthers or reinforces its existence in
9900-533: The ocean's surface. According to astrophysicist Steinn Sigurdsson, "There are viable bacterial spores that have been found that are 40 million years old on Earth—and we know they're very hardened to radiation ." Some bacteria were found living in the cold and dark in a lake buried a half-mile deep under the ice in Antarctica , and in the Marianas Trench , the deepest place in Earth's oceans. Expeditions of
10010-560: The oldest from the Archaean Eon, up to 3.4 billion years old. Extinction is the process by which a species dies out. The moment of extinction is the death of the last individual of that species. Because a species' potential range may be very large, determining this moment is difficult, and is usually done retrospectively after a period of apparent absence. Species become extinct when they are no longer able to survive in changing habitat or against superior competition. Over 99% of all
10120-560: The parent cell divides into two or more daughter cells. For prokaryotes, cell division occurs through a process of fission in which the DNA is replicated, then the two copies are attached to parts of the cell membrane. In eukaryotes , a more complex process of mitosis is followed. However, the result is the same; the resulting cell copies are identical to each other and to the original cell (except for mutations ), and both are capable of further division following an interphase period. Multicellular organisms may have first evolved through
10230-549: The possibility of life on other worlds and help recognize biospheres that might be different from that on Earth. Astrobiologists are particularly interested in studying extremophiles, as it allows them to map what is known about the limits of life on Earth to potential extraterrestrial environments For example, analogous deserts of Antarctica are exposed to harmful UV radiation , low temperature, high salt concentration and low mineral concentration. These conditions are similar to those on Mars . Therefore, finding viable microbes in
10340-466: The preserved remains or traces of organisms from the remote past. The totality of fossils, both discovered and undiscovered, and their placement in layers ( strata ) of sedimentary rock is known as the fossil record . A preserved specimen is called a fossil if it is older than the arbitrary date of 10,000 years ago. Hence, fossils range in age from the youngest at the start of the Holocene Epoch to
10450-562: The researchers, "You can find microbes everywhere—they're extremely adaptable to conditions, and survive wherever they are." A key to extremophile adaptation is their amino acid composition, affecting their protein folding ability under particular conditions. Studying extreme environments on Earth can help researchers understand the limits of habitability on other worlds. Tom Gheysens from Ghent University in Belgium and some of his colleagues have presented research findings that show spores from
10560-456: The ribosomes through an enzyme-catalyzed process called protein biosynthesis . A sequence of amino acids is assembled and joined based upon gene expression of the cell's nucleic acid. In eukaryotic cells, these proteins may then be transported and processed through the Golgi apparatus in preparation for dispatch to their destination. Cells reproduce through a process of cell division in which
10670-407: The same term [REDACTED] This disambiguation page lists articles associated with the title Lives . If an internal link led you here, you may wish to change the link to point directly to the intended article. Retrieved from " https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Lives&oldid=1113992101 " Category : Disambiguation pages Hidden categories: Short description
10780-435: The soul, like everything else, was composed of fiery atoms. He elaborated on fire because of the apparent connection between life and heat, and because fire moves. Plato , in contrast, held that the world was organised by permanent forms , reflected imperfectly in matter; forms provided direction or intelligence, explaining the regularities observed in the world. The mechanistic materialism that originated in ancient Greece
10890-493: The species that have ever lived are now extinct. Mass extinctions may have accelerated evolution by providing opportunities for new groups of organisms to diversify. The diversity of life on Earth is a result of the dynamic interplay between genetic opportunity , metabolic capability, environmental challenges, and symbiosis . For most of its existence, Earth's habitable environment has been dominated by microorganisms and subjected to their metabolism and evolution. As
11000-484: The star within a galaxy may also affect the likelihood of life forming. Stars in regions with a greater abundance of heavier elements that can form planets, in combination with a low rate of potentially habitat -damaging supernova events, are predicted to have a higher probability of hosting planets with complex life. The variables of the Drake equation are used to discuss the conditions in planetary systems where civilisation
11110-500: The sub-category list for extremophiles is always growing. For example, microbial life lives in the liquid asphalt lake, Pitch Lake . Research indicates that extremophiles inhabit the asphalt lake in populations ranging between 10 and 10 cells/gram. Likewise, until recently, boron tolerance was unknown, but a strong borophile was discovered in bacteria. With the recent isolation of Bacillus boroniphilus , borophiles came into discussion. Studying these borophiles may help illuminate
11220-737: The subsurface of Antarctica suggests that there may be microbes surviving in endolithic communities and living under the Martian surface. Research indicates it is unlikely that Martian microbes exist on the surface or at shallow depths, but may be found at subsurface depths of around 100 meters. Recent research carried out on extremophiles in Japan involved a variety of bacteria including Escherichia coli and Paracoccus denitrificans being subject to conditions of extreme gravity. The bacteria were cultivated while being rotated in an ultracentrifuge at high speeds corresponding to 403,627 g (i.e. 403,627 times
11330-408: The sugar of one nucleotide and the phosphate of the next, resulting in an alternating sugar-phosphate backbone . According to base pairing rules (A with T, and C with G), hydrogen bonds bind the nitrogenous bases of the two separate polynucleotide strands to make double-stranded DNA. This has the key property that each strand contains all the information needed to recreate the other strand, enabling
11440-648: The summit of a mountain in the Atacama Desert might be a radioresistant xerophile , a psychrophile , and an oligotroph . Polyextremophiles are well known for their ability to tolerate both high and low pH levels. Astrobiology is the multidisciplinary field that investigates the deterministic conditions and contingent events with which life arises, distributes, and evolves in the universe. Astrobiology makes use of physics , chemistry , astronomy , solar physics , biology , molecular biology , ecology , planetary science , geography , and geology to investigate
11550-483: The two genes previously linked to their "atmospheric chemosynthesis" in soil of two other similar cold desert sites, which provides further information on this carbon sink and further strengthens the extremophile evidence that supports the potential existence of microbial life on alien planets. The same month, scientists reported that bacteria from Earth, particularly Deinococcus radiodurans , were found to survive for three years in outer space , based on studies on
11660-413: The universe is made up of a combination of four eternal "elements" or "roots of all": earth, water, air, and fire. All change is explained by the arrangement and rearrangement of these four elements. The various forms of life are caused by an appropriate mixture of elements. Democritus (460 BC) was an atomist ; he thought that the essential characteristic of life was having a soul ( psyche ), and that
11770-535: Was composed of four eternal elements , and Aristotle 's hylomorphism asserting that living things have souls and embody both form and matter. Life originated at least 3.5 billion years ago, resulting in a universal common ancestor . This evolved into all the species that exist now, by way of many extinct species, some of which have left traces as fossils . Attempts to classify living things, too, began with Aristotle . Modern classification began with Carl Linnaeus 's system of binomial nomenclature in
11880-414: Was decisively dispelled by the experiments of Louis Pasteur in 1859, who expanded upon the investigations of predecessors such as Francesco Redi . Disproof of the traditional ideas of spontaneous generation is no longer controversial among biologists. Vitalism is the belief that there is a non-material life-principle. This originated with Georg Ernst Stahl (17th century), and remained popular until
11990-495: Was formulated by Henri Dutrochet , Theodor Schwann , Rudolf Virchow and others during the early nineteenth century, and subsequently became widely accepted. The activity of an organism depends on the total activity of its cells, with energy flow occurring within and between them. Cells contain hereditary information that is carried forward as a genetic code during cell division. There are two primary types of cells, reflecting their evolutionary origins. Prokaryote cells lack
12100-482: Was revived and revised by the French philosopher René Descartes (1596–1650), who held that animals and humans were assemblages of parts that together functioned as a machine. This idea was developed further by Julien Offray de La Mettrie (1709–1750) in his book L'Homme Machine . In the 19th century the advances in cell theory in biological science encouraged this view. The evolutionary theory of Charles Darwin (1859)
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