Institute of Molecular Evolution
Welcome to the Institute of Molecular Evolution at Heinrich-Heine-Universität Düsseldorf. Our main scientific interests are early evolution, the origin of life, the origin of metabolism from H2 dependent CO2 reduction at hydrothermal vents on the early Earth, endosymbiosis, cell evolution, and genome evolution.
News
10.04.2025 Press | Knowable Magazine
The Knowable Magazine, published an article about Bill Martin and his research on the origin of life:
At the dawn of life, did metabolism come first?
24.03.2025 Publication | PNAS
Bacteria on steroids
Proc Natl Acad Sci USA (2025)
doi: 10.1073/pnas.2503396122
Mariarita Bertoldi and Gianluca Molla wrote a comment on one of our latest papers (Schlikker et al. FEBS J (2024)):
Protometabolic functions of pyridoxal: A link between early amino acid synthesis and enzyme evolution
FEBS J (2025)
doi: 10.1111/febs.70056
15.11.2024 Painting | Helena Kauppila
Helena Kauppila visualized the Moon-Forming Impact, inspired by and with scientific advice from William Martin.
Helena Kauppila is a visual artist with a doctorate in mathematics, deeply fascinated by complex systems and the phenomena of emergence.
Have a look on her website and more paintings from her here.
14.11.2024 Graduation | Delfina Henriques Pereira
Delfina Henriques Pereira successfully finished her doctorate with the thesis entitled
"Cofactors and H2 metabolism at the origin of life".
27.06.2024 Publication | CRC Press
31.07.2024 Publication | Accounts of Chemical Research
Chemical antiquity in metabolism
Acc Chem Res (2024)
doi: 10.1021/acs.accounts.4c00226
21.03.2024 Publication | PNAS
Ferredoxin reduction by hydrogen with iron functions as an evolutionary precursor of flavin-based electron bifurcation
Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 121:e2318969121 (2024)
doi: 10.1073/pnas.2318969121
15.03.2024 Publication | Science
Cryptic diversity of cellulose-degrading gut bacteria in industrialized humans
Science 383:eadj9223 (2024)
doi: 10.1126/science.adj9223
24.02.2024 Podcast | Ole schaut hin
William Martin speaks about the origin of life
Evolutionsbiologe Professor Martin erklärt, wie das Leben entstanden ist
William Martin receives the 2023 Kimura Motoo Award by The Motoo Kimura Trust Foundation for the Promotion of Evolutionary Biology:
For the outstanding works on “early evolution of eukaryotic organisms”
13.12.2023 Graduation | Alexander MacLeod
Alexander MacLeod successfully finished his doctorate with the thesis entitled
"On the phylogenetic distribution of plastid developmental components in the chloroplastida".
17.07.2023 Verlängert/Extended: Ausstellung/Exhibition | Der Ursprung des Lebens/The Origin of Life
Exhibition in the University Library:
Der Ursprung des Lebens /The Origin of Life
Zweisprachige Ausstellung/Bilingual exhibition
Deutsch/English
Verlängert/Extended: Aug 27, 2023
03.07.2023 Graduation | Falk Nagies
Falk Nagies successfully finished his doctorate with the thesis entitled
"Patterns and causes of gene evolution over long evolutionary distances in prokaryotes ".
Exhibition in the botanical garden: Grün, Steine, Erde – Unsere Welt im Wandel
10.05.2023 Exhibition | Der Ursprung des Lebens/The Origin of Life
Exhibition in the University Library:
Der Ursprung des Lebens /The Origin of Life
Zweisprachige Ausstellung/Bilingual exhibition
Deutsch/English
May 10 – July 20, 2023
11.03.2023 Podcast | Reason with Science
William Martin speaks about the origin and early evolution of life
08.02.2023 Publication | Genome Biology and Evolution
The ancestral mitotic state: Closed orthomitosis with intranuclear spindles in the syncytial last eukaryotic common ancestor
Genome Biology and Evolution evad016 (2023)
doi: 10.1093/gbe/evad016
