Michael Russell (scientist)

Russell is the originator of the theory that life emerged at alkaline submarine hydrothermal vents. Russell's theory is that oxygenic photosynthesis acting upon iron sulfide deposits in volcanic, oceanic vents, allowed the formation of precursors of protein and RNA. Russell studied 360-million-year-old mineral deposits in Ireland, which led to his insight that iron sulphite cells may have provided three-dimensional molds for the first cell walls.[1]

Russell was an undergraduate in geology at Queen Mary College of the University of London, took his PhD in geochemistry at University of Durham, taught at the University of Glasgow, and was a visiting Professor at the University of Grenoble. He was NASA Senior Research Fellow at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, and a member of the NASA Astrobiology Institute from 2006 until 2019. Russell has appeared on BBC programmes[2] including Life on Mars and Origin of Life.