Editing Autocatalytic set (section)

==Last Universal Common Ancestor (LUCA)==

Some authors equate models of the origin of life with LUCA, the [[Last universal common ancestor|'''L'''ast '''U'''niversal '''C'''ommon '''A'''ncestor]] of all extant life.<ref>{{cite journal | pmid=34575021 | doi= 10.3390/life11090872 |pmc=8467930 | title = The Way forward for the Origin of Life: Prions and Prion-Like Molecules First Hypothesis| last1 =Jheeta | first1 =S.| last2 = Chatzitheodoridis| first2 =E. | last3 = Devine| first3 =Kevin| last4 = Block| first4 = J.|journal = Life |date =2021| volume = 11|issue = 9 |pages = 872
| doi-access= free | bibcode= 2021Life...11..872J }}</ref>  This is a serious error resulting from failure to recognize that '''L''' refers to the ''last'' common ancestor, not to the ''first'' ancestor, which is much older: a large amount of evolution occurred before the appearance of LUCA.<ref>{{cite journal | doi= 10.1016/j.jtbi.2017.05.023 | title = Life before LUCA |last2=Cárdenas |first2 =M L|last1=Cornish-Bowden|first1 =A| journal = J. Theor. Biol. | date = 2017 | volume = 434 | pages=68–74| pmid = 28536033 | bibcode = 2017JThBi.434...68C }}</ref>

Gill and Forterre expressed the essential point as follows:<ref>{{cite journal | doi= 10.1017/S1473550415000282 |title = Origin of life: LUCA and extracellular membrane vesicles (EMVs)|journal= Int. J. Astrobiol.|last1 = Gill| first1 =S. |last2 = Forterre| first2 =P. |volume =15|
issue= 1 |pages=7–15| date = 2016| s2cid=44428292 |doi-access = free| bibcode=2016IJAsB..15....7G }}</ref>
<blockquote> LUCA should not be confused with the first cell, but was the product of a long period of evolution. Being the "last" means that LUCA was preceded by a long succession of older "ancestors."</blockquote>