How did life start?

There are, in principle, at least three possibilities:

Special creation

Life-forms may have been put on earth by supernatural or divine forces.

Extraterrestrial origin

Life may not have originated on earth at all; instead, life may have infected earth from some other
planet.

Spontaneous origin

Life may have evolved from inanimate matter, as associations among molecules became more and more
complex.

Special Creation

The theory of special creation, that a divine God created life is at the core of most major religions. The
oldest hypothesis about life’s origins, it is also the most widely accepted. Far more Americans, for
example, believe that God created life on earth than believe in the other two hypotheses. Many take a
more extreme position, accepting the biblical account of life’s creation as factually correct.

Extraterrestrial Origin

The theory of panspermia proposes that meteors or cosmic dust may have carried significant amounts of
complex organic molecules to earth, kicking off the evolution of life. Hundreds of thousands of
meteorites and comets are known to have slammed into the early earth, and recent findings suggest
that at least some may have carried organic materials. Nor is life on other planets ruled out.

Spontaneous Origin

Most scientists tentatively accept the theory of spontaneous origin, that life evolved from inanimate
matter. In this view, the force leading to life was selection. As changes in molecules increased their
stability and caused them to persist longer, these molecules could initiate more and more complex
associations, culminating in the evolution of cells.

For over 150 years – since the time of Charles Darwin – the theory of evolution has been through more
scrutiny and rigorous investigation than just about any other scientific claim.

What is evolution?

Evolution is defined as any process of formation or growth; development.

Theory of Evolution
The idea of evolution has been around for centuries. In fact, it goes all the way back to the ancient Greek
philosopher Aristotle. However, evolution is most often associated with Charles Darwin. Darwin
published a book on evolution in 1859 titled On the Origin of Species. In the book, Darwin stated the
theory of evolution by natural selection. He also presented a great deal of evidence that evolution
occurs.

The diversity of life on Earth today is the result of evolution. Life began on Earth at least 3.5 to 4 billion
years ago, and it has been evolving ever since. At first, all living things on Earth were simple, single-celled
organisms. Much later, the first multicellular organisms evolved, and after that, Earth’s biodiversity
greatly increased. Figure below shows a timeline of the history of life on Earth.

There are three main pieces of evidence supporting evolution:

Species share similarities that are sign of their common ancestry.

Illustrative Example:

Insects, though unbelievably diverse, have 6 legs. There are likely several hundred thousand insect
species and they all have pretty much the same body plan.

There are progressions of species changing over time.

Example:

All these common vegetables were once wild mustard.

Species have traits that are the remnants of past generations.

Example:

If you didn’t know any better, you might think this was a flattened elephant foot. Well, that’s not far from
the truth since manatees are closely related to elephants. The West Indian manatee (Trichechus
manatus) has fingernails on its flippers and hair on its body (visible in this photo).

What are the themes unifying in the study of life?

Biological Systems

A biological system is basically a combination of parts formed together to create a complex system. For
example, a car is a combination of many parts and pieces. Each piece individually is just that one single
part but combined, they can create the car or motorized vehicle.

Cellular Basis of Life

All organisms are made up of cells and most multicellular organisms have cells that are specialized for
specific functions. An example would be nerve tissue. The tissue consists of many nerve cells and
together they make up a complex network.
Form and Function

How something works is related to its structure. In other word, if you needed to put a screw you don’t
use a hammer, you need to use the correct form to achieve the correct function.

Reproduction and Inheritance

Offspring, in a way, is/are replicas of their parents and grandparents. A child inherits genes from his
parents which gives him his unique characteristics that are also known as DNA.

Interactions with the Environment

Every organism in its environment is continuous in its own way. For instance, a plant goes through
photosynthesis to make its own food and nutrition. The transfer of chemicals between organism and
their environment is a key part in any ecosystem.

Energy and Life

We obtain our energy in a chemical form from molecules in our food. Energy travels through an
ecosystem in sunlight and in heat; ecosystems convert one form of energy into another. Producers like
plants make some of the energy, and consumers like animals eat the food made by the producers.
Energy stored in the body is used to carry out life activities.

Regulation

Your body has a regulated temperature of about 98.6 degrees Fahrenheit. When you do an activity and
the temperature of your body rises to higher then, to regulate your body temperature, your brain signals
your body to produce sweat. For example, when a dog sticks out its tongue and pants that’s its form of
sweating.

Adaptations and Evolutions

Adaptation means an inherited trait that helps the organism’s ability to survive and reproduces in its
environment. Evolutions mean specifically a generation-to-generation change in proportion different
inherited genes in a population.

Biology and Society

Recently in the past few years, people have been using biology to perform medical procedures,
developing pest- resistance crops, and creating wildlife refuges where animals and other species can be
protected and studied.