![](/images/graphics-bg.png)
Some Problems in Proving the Existence of the Universal Common Ancestor of Life on Earth
Joint Authors
Yonezawa, Takahiro
Hasegawa, Masami
Source
Issue
Vol. 2012, Issue 2012 (31 Dec. 2012), pp.1-5, 5 p.
Publisher
Hindawi Publishing Corporation
Publication Date
2012-04-30
Country of Publication
Egypt
No. of Pages
5
Main Subjects
Natural & Life Sciences (Multidisciplinary)
Medicine
Information Technology and Computer Science
Abstract EN
Although overwhelming circumstantial evidence supports the existence of the universal common ancestor of all extant life on Earth, it is still an open question whether the universal common ancestor existed or not.
Theobald (Nature 465, 219–222 (2010)) recently challenged this problem with a formal statistical test applied to aligned sequences of conservative proteins sampled from all domains of life and concluded that the universal common ancestor hypothesis holds.
However, we point out that there is a fundamental flaw in Theobald's method which used aligned sequences.
We show that the alignment gives a strong bias for the common ancestor hypothesis, and we provide an example that Theobald's method supports a common ancestor hypothesis for two apparently unrelated families of protein-encoding sequences (cytb and nd2 of mitochondria).
This arouses suspicion about the effectiveness of the “formal” test.
American Psychological Association (APA)
Yonezawa, Takahiro& Hasegawa, Masami. 2012. Some Problems in Proving the Existence of the Universal Common Ancestor of Life on Earth. The Scientific World Journal،Vol. 2012, no. 2012, pp.1-5.
https://search.emarefa.net/detail/BIM-474846
Modern Language Association (MLA)
Yonezawa, Takahiro& Hasegawa, Masami. Some Problems in Proving the Existence of the Universal Common Ancestor of Life on Earth. The Scientific World Journal No. 2012 (2012), pp.1-5.
https://search.emarefa.net/detail/BIM-474846
American Medical Association (AMA)
Yonezawa, Takahiro& Hasegawa, Masami. Some Problems in Proving the Existence of the Universal Common Ancestor of Life on Earth. The Scientific World Journal. 2012. Vol. 2012, no. 2012, pp.1-5.
https://search.emarefa.net/detail/BIM-474846
Data Type
Journal Articles
Language
English
Notes
Includes bibliographical references
Record ID
BIM-474846