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CHEMICAL ORIGIN OF LIFE

A detour to sterol synthesis

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Sterols are a hallmark of eukaryotes. So how do hordes of primitive eukaryotes survive and thrive without a key enzyme for making these crucial lipids? We now learn what solution evolution arrived at — invention of an alternative enzyme that does the same job.

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Fig. 1: SQE catalyses the first oxygenation step of sterol synthesis across eukaryotic life.

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Correspondence to Andrew J. Brown.

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Baker, M.A.B., Brown, A.J. A detour to sterol synthesis. Nat Microbiol 4, 214–215 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41564-018-0347-8

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