A new study has revealed that a group of ancient enzymes adapted to substantial changes in ocean temperature and acidity during the last four billion years. The results provide evidence that life on early Earth evolved from an environment that was much hotter and more acidic than today’s. The research was partially funded by the NASA Astrobiology Exo/Evo program and the NASAAstrobiology Institute (NAI). The paper, “Single-molecule paleoenzymology probes the chemistry of resurrected enzymes” was published in the journal Nature Structural & Molecular Biology.