Early metabolism reveals dual origins of life on Earth

Researchers mapped the full early metabolism network (420 reactions) and found that bacteria and archaea likely shifted to free-living cells independently, with LUCA possessing only about half of metabolic reactions while the rest were catalyzed by environmental metals; the study suggests a hybrid early metabolism combining metal catalysts and enzymes and proposes a pre-ATP energy source via phosphite reacting with palladium in hydrothermal-vent environments.