Evolution of cells

Evolution of cells refers to the evolutionary origin and subsequent evolutionary development of cells. Cells first emerged at least 3.8 billion years ago.

The first cells

The origin most important step in the evolution of life on Earth. The birth of the cell marked the passage from pre-biotic chemistry to partitioned units resembling modern cells. The final transition to living entities that fulfill all the definitions of modern cells depended on the ability to evolve effectively by natural selection. This transition has been called the Darwinian transition.

If life is viewed from the point of view of replicator molecules, cells satisfy two fundamental conditions: protection from the outside environment and confinement of biochemical activity. The former condition is needed to keep complex molecules stable in a varying and sometimes aggressive environment; the latter is fundamental for the evolution of biocomplexity. If the freely floating molecules that code for enzymes are not enclosed in cells, the enzymes will automatically benefit the neighbouring replicator molecules. The consequences of diffusion in non-partitioned life forms might be viewed as "parasitism by default." Therefore the selection pressure on replicator molecules will be lower, as the 'lucky' molecule that produces the better enzyme has no definitive advantage over its close neighbors. If the molecule is enclosed in a cell membrane, then the enzymes coded will be available only to the replicator molecule itself. That molecule will uniquely benefit from the enzymes it codes for, giving it a better chance to multiply.