WANI Dictionary

Iron-sulfur hypothesis

Iron-sulfur world theory, iron-sulfur world hypothesis. The iron-sulfure hypothesis claims that the early metabolism took place near hydrothermal vents. Metabolism here state a cycle of chemical reactions – this hypothesis does not necessarily mean that the first life was formed near hydrothermal vents.

Definitions in the literature

• The iron-sulfur hypothesis proposes that early metabolic reactions took place in rocks around hydrothermal vents [1].
• The iron-sulfur world theory is a hypothesis for the origin of life advanced by Günter Wächtershäuser involving forms of iron and sulfur. Wächtershäuser claims that an early form of metabolism predated genetics. Metabolism here means a cycle of chemical reactions that produce energy in a form that can be harnessed by other processes [4].

Neither Biology Life on Earth [2] or Oxford Biology Dictionary [3] mention this hypothesis, which suggests that this term is not very common in undergraduate biology.