1.

5 The origin of cells

The origin of cells

Cell division and the origin of cells

Cells can only be formed by division of pre-existing cells.
- A continuity of life from its origins on Earth to the cells in our bodies today
- Creation of entirely new cells is impossible at the moment

Spontaneous generation and the origin of cells

Verifying the general principles that underlie the natural world: the principle that cells only come
from pre-existing cells needs to be verified.
- Cells are highly complex structure, no natural mechanism has been suggested for producing
cells from simpler subunits

- No example is known of increases in the # of cells in a population, organism or tissue w/o cell
division
- Viruses are produced from simpler subunits but they do not consist of cells, can only be
produced inside the host cells that they have infected

Spontaneous generation and Pasteur's experiments

Cells can only be formed by division of pre-existing cells.

- Nutrient broth
- If kept in sealed flask: remain unchanged - no fungi/other organisms appear

- Pass air through a pad of cotton wool in a tube - filter out microscopic materials from the air
- If pad placed in broth in a sealed flask, large # of microorganisms appear, mould grew

- Swan-neck flasks: long neck melted + bent into shapes

- Boiled broth in flasks (some unboiled as controls)
- unboiled: fungi + other organisms appear

Jin 2020 1
 1.5 The origin of cells
- Broth in flasks was in contact w/ air —> air suggested was needed for spontaneous generation,
yet no spontaneous generation occurred
- Snapped necks to leave a shorter vertical neck - organisms appear

- Swan necks prevented organisms from air getting into liquids

- No organisms appeared spontaneously

Origin of the first cells

The first cells must have arisen from non-living material.

1. Production of carbon compounds such as sugars, amino acids

• Miller and Urey experiment

• Passed steam through a mixture of methane, hydrogen, ammonia (thought to be
representative of atm of early Earth)

• Passed electrical discharges to simulate lightning

• Formed amino acids + some carbon compounds
2. Assembly of carbon compounds into polymers

• Carbon compounds could have been assembled into polymers in deep-sea vents
• Gushing hot water carrying reduced inorganic chemicals like iron sulphide - would’ve
provided energy to assemble carbon compounds into polymers

3. Formation of membranes

• Naturally occurred due to hydrophobic + hydrophilic properties of certain carbon

compounds

• Would’ve allowed internal chemistry to develop

4. Development of a mechanism for inheritance

• Mechanisms for inheritance rely on genes

• RNA could have been the genetic info - is both self-replicating and can act as a catalyst
(enzyme)

Jin 2020 2
 1.5 The origin of cells

Endosymbiosis and eukaryotic cells

The origin of eukaryotic cells can be explained by the endosymbiotic theory.
- Smaller prokaryotes developed aerobic cell respiration
- Absorbed by larger prokaryotes - mutualistic relationship: larger supply food, smaller carry out
aerobic respiration to supply energy

- Chloroplasts and mitochondria both support this theory

• Own circular DNA molecule
• Own 70S ribosomes of a size and shape typical of some prokaryotes
• Transcribe their DNA and use mRNA to synthesize some proteins
• Can only be produced by division of pre-existing mitochondria and chloroplasts
• Double membranes, suggesting they have the membrane from the cell’s vesicle in addition to
their own membrane

Jin 2020 3