Cosmic ray-driven bioenergetics for Life in Molecular Clouds

Abstract

According to models such as panspermia or the Nebula-Relay hypothesis, the ancestors of life on Earth once lived in molecular clouds. Then what are the energy source and bioenergetics for such lifeforms? In this paper, we propose a new bioenergetic mechanism powered by cosmic ray ionization of hydrogen molecules and we argue that it may relate to or be the origin of chemiosmosis. Based on this mechanism, we suggest that the Last Universal Common Ancestor is a type of lifeform that utilize hydrogen molecules as donors of electron transport chains.