Yes, that was the topic of the article. I am just dubious that a location that got a lot of lightning could be selected for, though lightning is not uniform across the globe. But it's a rather crude factor and hard to defend against on a micro scale!
It’s also worth noting that early in earth’s history, it was geologically very active and thus resulted atmosphere with all kinds of extreme weather—including lightning storms.
I don’t know how likely spontaneous recombination is, but those two data points make it seem plausible enough that electricity may have had an important role in the development of life on earth.
In the past there were periods of billions of years at a stretch with not much else going on that single celled organisms being zapped by lightning. You'd think that in those conditions it happened and probably frequently enough to make a difference.
For multi-cellular organisms the picture is completely different and it likely wouldn't matter nearly as much.
gumby|2 years ago
d4mi3n|2 years ago
It’s also worth noting that early in earth’s history, it was geologically very active and thus resulted atmosphere with all kinds of extreme weather—including lightning storms.
I don’t know how likely spontaneous recombination is, but those two data points make it seem plausible enough that electricity may have had an important role in the development of life on earth.
jacquesm|2 years ago
For multi-cellular organisms the picture is completely different and it likely wouldn't matter nearly as much.
mannykannot|2 years ago
If there is a natural laboratory for this, this would be it:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Catatumbo_lightning