Signs of Ancient Microbial Life Questioned

New findings cast doubt on previous claims that structures found preserved in rocks in Greenland are stromatolites, but the original authors say the discrepancy lies in different samples.

abby olena
| 5 min read

Register for free to listen to this article
Listen with Speechify
0:00
5:00
Share

ABOVE: Photograph of the putative stromatolitic structures in an outcrop (arrows). While most of the structures point upward (yellow arrows), one points downward (red arrow), indicating the structures did not grow upward from the sea floor.
ABIGAIL ALLWOOD

In 2016, researchers found what they interpreted as stromatolites—layered formations made by sediments from microbes—in a 3.7-billion-year-old set of rocks known as the Isua Belt in Greenland. At the time, they were the oldest evidence of life on Earth by about 200 million years. But in a study published today (October 17) in Nature, another research team challenges the claim that the structures are microbe-made, proposing instead that the shapes in the rocks are due to deformations that occurred as the rocks aged.

“At face value, the results of this study provide a reminder that in geology, some observations are scale-dependent [and that] morphological analysis of putative ancient biological forms is also inherently ...

Interested in reading more?

Become a Member of

The Scientist Logo
Receive full access to more than 35 years of archives, as well as TS Digest, digital editions of The Scientist, feature stories, and much more!
Already a member? Login Here

Keywords

Meet the Author

  • abby olena

    Abby Olena, PhD

    As a freelancer for The Scientist, Abby reports on new developments in life science for the website.
Share
3D illustration of a gold lipid nanoparticle with pink nucleic acid inside of it. Purple and teal spikes stick out from the lipid bilayer representing polyethylene glycol.
February 2025, Issue 1

A Nanoparticle Delivery System for Gene Therapy

A reimagined lipid vehicle for nucleic acids could overcome the limitations of current vectors.

View this Issue
Considerations for Cell-Based Assays in Immuno-Oncology Research

Considerations for Cell-Based Assays in Immuno-Oncology Research

Lonza
An illustration of animal and tree silhouettes.

From Water Bears to Grizzly Bears: Unusual Animal Models

Taconic Biosciences
Sex Differences in Neurological Research

Sex Differences in Neurological Research

bit.bio logo
New Frontiers in Vaccine Development

New Frontiers in Vaccine Development

Sino

Products

Tecan Logo

Tecan introduces Veya: bringing digital, scalable automation to labs worldwide

Explore a Concise Guide to Optimizing Viral Transduction

A Visual Guide to Lentiviral Gene Delivery

Takara Bio
Inventia Life Science

Inventia Life Science Launches RASTRUM™ Allegro to Revolutionize High-Throughput 3D Cell Culture for Drug Discovery and Disease Research

An illustration of differently shaped viruses.

Detecting Novel Viruses Using a Comprehensive Enrichment Panel

Twist Bio