Hydrogen has a very powerful effect on eukaryotic cells.
Nov 28,2023
Hydrogen has a very powerful effect on eukaryotic cells.
A large number of studies have found that hydrogen has a very strong protective effect on animal cells. Hydrogen has a very strong impact on the function of mitochondria and can even increase their ATP production capacity. It also has a very strong effect on mitochondrial metabolism. Today's hydrogen biomedical research finds that hydrogen has therapeutic effects on many diseases at the overall animal level, including humans.
To this day, the basis of life on Earth remains microorganisms. Without microorganisms, plants cannot take root and grow. Without microorganisms, animals cannot digest food properly. Without microorganisms, the ecological chain cannot be completed normally. Large animals and plants cannot be effectively decomposed into environmental components and cannot be reused. Without microorganisms, there would be no earth ecosystem. However, the survival of many microorganisms is actually very difficult. For example, many soil microorganisms always face the dilemma of lack of water and energy substances. However, microorganisms also have skills to survive in extreme environments. For example, many soil microorganisms use extremely trace amounts of hydrogen from the air. Experts believe that under environmental conditions such as extreme drought, high temperature and cold, as long as there is air, there will be hydrogen. Although the amount is small, hydrogen is ubiquitous and has high energy density, which is an important basis for the survival of these microorganisms.
The second is to consider it from an evolutionary perspective.
According to the theory of evolution, all life gradually evolves from lower to higher. Life on earth can be divided into two major categories, non-cellular viruses and cellular life. Whether viruses are considered complete life is still controversial. Cells are the most basic unit of life. There are two major categories of cellular life, prokaryotic life. And eukaryotic life, prokaryotic life or bacteria were once regarded as one category, but according to the latest research, especially the study of DNA structure, prokaryotic life is divided into bacteria and archaea, among which bacteria are more primitive and archaea are more eukaryotic cells. Even more interesting is the fact that all eukaryotic life, including fungal animals and plants, descend from a common ancestor. This eukaryotic ancestor cell turned out to be from a symbiosis of archaea and fungi, in which archaea provided the basis of the cell, while bacteria were engulfed by archaea and later evolved into mitochondria. According to this evolutionary logic, since about 80% of bacteria and archaea have the potential to metabolize hydrogen, archaea, as the ancestors of eukaryotic cells, are considered to be methanogens, which are hydrogen-utilizing bacteria that can use hydrogen to synthesize methane. bacteria. The ancestral bacteria of mitochondria are ɑproteobacteria that can synthesize hydrogen. In short, as the direct ancestors of eukaryotes, bacteria and archaea are both hydrogen metabolizers, so all eukaryotic cells as descendants have the potential of hydrogen metabolism. This is a very reasonable speculation.
All eukaryotic cells, including animals, plants and fungi, emerged because of the emergence of mitochondria. The currently accepted view in academic circles is that mitochondria come from ɑproteobacteria, and today's pathogenic bacteria Rickettsia are the same kind of bacteria. What is amazing is that complex I, the core of the electron transport chain in mitochondria, and bacterial hydrogenase are homologous molecules. It can be said that mitochondria are ancient bacteria that can metabolize hydrogen. All eukaryotic life, animals, plants and fungi, are descendants of this ancient bacteria that metabolized hydrogen. Then all eukaryotic cells with mitochondria have the potential for hydrogen metabolism, which includes the production and utilization of hydrogen.
In short, animal cells, like plant cells, also have the potential to metabolize hydrogen, or they already have the ability to metabolize hydrogen, but it is just an ability that we have ignored.
3. From the perspective of the origin of life.
Darwin proposed that the theory of evolution only provides us with the laws of evolution of life in nature, and these laws are mainly obtained through the study of non-microorganisms. In fact, microorganisms are the largest and most numerous life forms on earth, and they are also the basis for maintaining ecological balance. From today's point of view, the evolution of microorganisms is the more important process of the evolution of life on earth. Of course, the more important question is the most primitive origin of life on earth. In other words, how does life on earth arise from non-living matter and according to what process.
There are many hypotheses about the origin of life. Some of them are more reasonable and more recognized.
The origin of life began on the early Earth, approximately 4.6 billion years ago. At that time, the earth's environment was very unstable and full of factors that were not conducive to life. However, through a series of processes, the origin of life eventually occurred. Initially, these life forms may have been very simple organic molecules such as amino acids, sugars, and nucleotides. In early environments on Earth, these molecules may have combined with each other to form more complex organic molecules, eventually forming structures similar to cells. These structures are called prokaryotic cells and are one of the key nodes in the origin and evolution of life.
The classic Miller-Urey experiment of 1952 showed that most amino acids (the chemical building blocks of proteins) could be synthesized from inorganic compounds under conditions designed to replicate those on early Earth. External energy sources may have triggered these reactions, including lightning, radiation, micrometeorites entering the atmosphere, and the implosion of air bubbles in ocean waves. Other approaches (the metabolism-first hypothesis) focus on understanding how catalysis in early geochemical systems provided the precursor molecules necessary for self-replication.
One thing is very clear. The proportion of hydrogen in the Earth's atmosphere 4.6 billion years ago was very high. In the past, hydrogen was only considered a common participant. It now appears that hydrogen is an indispensable component for the synthesis of organic matter on Earth. In other words, it is precisely because of hydrogen that we have the basis and conditions for the emergence of life.
In short, whether it is from today’s research evidence, the origin of life on earth, or the evolution of complex life on earth, hydrogen has never been absent and is an important player. Therefore, hydrogen is the most important catalyst for life and the guardian of life on earth.
Current evidence does not clarify the ability of animal cells to synthesize and utilize hydrogen. If this phenomenon can be clarified from the evidence and its molecular process can be fully analyzed, this research will elevate the biological value of hydrogen to a very high status. Of course, the important contributors engaged in this research will also leave a significant mark in the history of life sciences or modern science.
