Molecular traces of our primordial ancestors

该项目旨在与勘探行业合作，为古代石油渗漏开发年龄诊断指纹工具。从16亿年前的岩石中提取的原始分子是这个灭绝世界的第一个也是唯一的见证者。澳大利亚广阔的红色中心地区保留着未被发现的石油储量。该项目将提供有关石油来源的信息，并帮助预测可能隐藏的储量，提高调查的准确性，降低勘探成本和风险。这些发现带来的更广泛的好处可能会改变人们对我们最早的祖先及其对地球进化的影响的普遍理解。

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.