Abiogenesis

Abiogenesis

Djambe?

Why is there life on Earth?

Extreme heat

billions of years ago

has shaped our world.

Earth was plagued by massive

volcanic eruptions.

Meteorites constantly pounded the surface,

causing cataclysmic geological

and chemical transformations.

This ungrateful environment was crucial

to the formation of life.

Evidence of this can be found all around the world

like here.

The Tswaing crater.

Some 220,000 years ago,

this crater was formed by a gigantic impact

the meteorite was traveling

at 25 kilometers per second

when it smashed into the ground.

It’s a real hike.

There are very distinctive

marks here in the stone.

How the granite was deformed

by the impact of the meteorite.

It was just 50 meters wide,

but created this 1.6 kilometer big crater

In the words of your own grandfather.

“The more you see, the more you understand.”

Djambe?

Tell me more about the origins of life.

Life results from chemistry,

it emerged out of non-living molecules,

we are made of the same atoms

born in the stars

billions of years ago.

The right ingredients in the right amounts

combined under the right conditions.

Science says life started

in a primordial soup,

a kind of a chemical melting pot

where for yet unknown reasons,

organic molecules formed.

Every creature is made of cells.

Inside these cells is

a nucleus containing

chromosomes that hold the DNA,

which in turn is made of genes.

Genes are life’s information carriers.

They provide your biological system

with the proper information to follow

as you grow and evolve.

Your DNA tells a story.

It’s like a logbook of your ancestry.

It is how nature carries information

through space and time.

In my case, it is the only way to figure out

where I really come from.

See my mother, my father

they come from the islands of Cabo Verde,

a tiny paradise nation

of off the coast of Senegal.

But I was born in Europe,

and I always say the only difference

between me

and all other Africans

is that I immigrated before being born.

Before the Portuguese

stumbled upon this place,

these ten islands

were practically uninhabited.

Then they brought in slaves

from all across the continent.

People started flocking in.

Jews exiled from Europe.

Explorers, exploiters,

curious people, merchants.

My uncle used to say

Cape Verdeans are the

children of the Atlantic Ocean.

Descendants of slave candidates

that did not quite make it

to the other side of the pond.

As a consequence in my family,

there’s all this hearsay and stories.

Examples of good and less good encounters.

It is quite difficult

to draw a mildly accurate family tree

when all you have

is the surname of a slave master.

Right?

I have this DNA test kit.

I carry it with me everywhere I go.

If I take a sample of my saliva

and send it to the lab, they will tell me

everything I need to know.

It’s like a portal to my ancestors.

Now all I need is the courage to take it.

Another six kilometers to go.

I have to make it back before sunset.

Talking about survival of the fittest.

For life,

threat is lurking everywhere.

We are surrounded by constant danger.

Predators,

parasites,

toxins,

changes in climate

and even animals of the same species.

Eat or get eaten.

Each individual be it plants, animals

or fungi is subjected

to natural selection.

Diversity is crucial

and evolution is life’s

constant adaptation to the environment.

Our ancestors saw life as a

self-balancing act in the interest of all,

guaranteeing the survival of life itself

One species, though,

is threatening

the sophisticated equilibrium.

This species is us.

We are so powerful we became a threat to

every other species on Earth.

Nature has a

surprising way to protect itself

from unexpected

and sometimes unnatural changes

to the cycle

of life.

Gorongosa National Park,

Mozambique

During the 15 year war,

90% of all elephants

fell victim to poachers.

They were ruthlessly killed for their Ivory,

a significant source of revenue

to finance arms.

Under normal circumstances,

a small number of 2 to 4%

of all female

elephants are born without tusks.

They have lost their defense

and natural means to gather foot,

but humans have no interest

in killing them.

By the end of the war,

half of the surviving

elephant cows were tusks-less.

A generation later,

most newborns are the offspring

of these same tusk-less

mothers.

Their daughters, the new generation,

represent a third of all elephant cows.

And just like their mothers,

they have no tusks.

The rare genetic trait

that causes elephants to be born

without tusks

gave them a biological advantage.

Evolution increased

the number of elephants without tusks

and with it, the chances of survival

for an entire species.

Unfortunately,

the process is not enough to protect this

colossal and marvelous

mammal from human caused extinction.

In an environment where

tusks can mean death by poaching,

having such a simple gene

disabled in their DNA

can decide about the survival

of an entire species.

The theories of evolution

did not start with Darwin, among others,

Ibn Khaldun

had already made the same observation

and eternalized

his ideas in his writings.

Here in Africa.

Humans are a result of this

same process of evolution,

and it all started here in Africa.

Every human being that ever lived

can be traced back

to this continent.

Africa is where the human journey begins,

and if we want to understand humanity,

we have to know its cradle.

An African proverb says:

To know where you are going,

look first at where you come from.

On her numerous voyages

Johari learned that archeology

plays an essential role

in the quest to understand Africa.