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Tuesday, 21st August 2007 (1889 views)

Fossils dating back some 2.7 billion years have been discovered in a Canadian gold mine in Ontario.

Reported in the latest edition of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, the findings represent the first evidence that the three known forms of microbes coexisted.

Scientists discovered the remains of eukaryotes, bacteria and archaea after a five-year analysis of shale samples taken from the mine, which is situated in Timmes, north of Toronto.

University of Illinois associate professor of earth and environmental sciences Fabien Kenig commented that the findings show that "the three domains of life were well separated and evolving (independently) by 2.7 billion years ago".

"Considering the extent and composition of today's deep biosphere, it is likely that such hydrothermal subsurface communities have existed for much of the Earth's history," Kenig and his co-writer Gregory Ventura said.

Last month, US scientists from the Department of Energy's Brookhaven National Laboratory announced that the gold nanoparticles could be used as catalysts for converting biomass into energy, with the potential to help targeted drug delivery within the medical sector.

 

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