Molecular traces of our primordial ancestors

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This project aims to work with the exploration industry to develop an age-diagnostic fingerprinting tool for ancient petroleum seeps. Primordial molecules extracted from 1.6 billion years old rocks are the first and only witnesses of this extinct world. Australia’s vast red centre retains undiscovered oil reserves. This project will yield information about an oil’s provenance and help predict where reserves may be hidden, increasing the accuracy of surveys and reducing costs and risks of exploration. Broader benefits from the findings may change common understanding about our very earliest ancestors and their effect on the planet’s evolution.