Origin of Life

All forms of life created by God

Hindu Concept: Lord Brahma created

living world at once.

Christian and Islam Belief: God created

universe, plants, animals and humans.

Life came from other planets.

No scientific basis
 How a living cell can origin?
Observations and experiments in chemistry, geology, and physics suggest that
simple cells might have originated through following a sequences of events.
1. The abiotic (nonliving) synthesis of small organic molecules, such as amino
acids and nitrogenous bases.
2. The joining of these small molecules into macromolecules, such as proteins
and nucleic acids.
3. The packaging of these molecules into protocells, droplets with membranes
that maintained an internal chemistry different from that of their
surroundings.
4. The origin of self-replicating molecules that eventually made inheritance
possible.
How these can happen in Early earth ?
 Conditions on early Earth
Life could not have originated in Early Earth as planet was very hot and bombarded by
huge rock, ice, volcanos.
This early phase probably ended about 4 billion years ago.
The atmosphere contained various compounds released by volcanic eruptions like
nitrogen, carbon dioxide, methane, ammonia, hydrogen etc.

In 1920s, Russian chemist A. I. Oparin and British scientist J. B. S. Haldane independently

hypothesized that
• Earth’s early atmosphere was a reducing (electron-adding) which might favoured to form
organic compounds from simpler molecules.
• The energy for this organic synthesis could have come from electric discharge from
lightning and intense UV radiation.
• Very hot Early Earth’s surface temperature might have catalysed chemical reactions.
• Early oceans and water vapour possibly used as a solution of organic molecules.
Simulated conditions thought Experiment:
to exist on the early Earth In 1953 Stanley Miller and Harold Urey
performed the first experiment that
produced amino acids in what was
assumed to be a pre-life atmosphere.
They passed a mixture of water vapor,
methane, hydrogen and ammonia gases
Atmosphere through an electric arc to simulate what
Lighting
Hydrogen would happen if these gases were
Cloud Methane subjected to lightning.
Ammonia
Result:
10 biologic amino acid types
Rain 25 non-biologic amino acid types
Formaldehyde
Sugars

Considered to be the classical

Ocean experiment on the origin of life.
Various laboratories have also
confirmed it.
 Life on Earth: Meteorite could be source of organic molecules?
 “Elements of life” exist everywhere around
the universe.
 Life on earth might have started when these
‘Elements’ came to early earth by a
meteorite.
 It also suggests that these elements might
bind to form polymers.

Fragments of the Murchison meteorite, a 4.5-billion-year-old chondrite that fell to

Australia in 1969, contain more than 80 amino acids, and other key organic molecules
including lipids, simple sugars, and nitrogenous bases such as uracil.
These amino acids can not be contaminants from Earth because they consist of an equal
mix of D and L isomers. Organisms make and use only L isomers.
Where possibly life begin?
Land:
Unlikely as no O2
No ozone: UV destroys molecular bond
Shallow ponds:
Once favored, full of organic material.
When evaporated, organic chemical concentration Chemical reactions near
increases making it easier to form complex molecules. deep-sea vents: Considered
Lack of sufficient energy. the most likely sites where
life on Earth originated

Deep-sea vents/hot springs

(Hot-water vent formed on the ocean floor when seawater
circulates through hot volcanic rocks)
DNA evidence suggests that early organisms survived in
Fossil Evidence:
conditions similar to deep-sea vents 3.5 Byr Australian rocks in
Plenty of chemical energy available sea vent shows Cell Like
structure
 Monomer to Polymer

Monomer:
• Building block of life
• Must for life to evolve
• How did monomer form polymer

Requirement for Polymerization:

• Energy source: to drive the reaction
• Concentration: to bring the materials together
• Catalyst: to make the reaction happens
 Polymerization sources on Early Earth
Energy source
• Volcanos
• Lighting
• UV radiation

Concentration:
Clay forms sedimentary Scums, evaporation
• Clay and freezing on ocean
particles called platelets
• Evaporation which are very small, surface concentrate
• Freezing flat and with negative the monomers.
charge
• scums

Catalyst:
Metal ions Zinc and
copper acts as catalyst
 What is required to make a cell?
• DNA: Replicate, store and pass information
• RNA DNA RNA Protein
• Proteins: Coded by DNA
• Phospholipids: Membrane

• RNA has the ability to copy

itself
• RNA shows enzymic (catalytic)
properties By dripping solutions of RNA Catalytic RNA (Ribozyme)
• RNA can store and transfer nucleotides onto hot sand, clay, or molecule that can acts like
rock produces RNA polymer. enzyme and replicate.
information. (Nobel prize 1989)
• RNA can be converted to DNA,

Reverse transcriptase found in RNA Virus coverts

RNA to DNA like HIV
RNA was probably the first
hereditary molecule

RNA World
 Origin of Membranes in the first cell
Phospholipids are insoluble in water. When mixed with water, they
spontaneously form microscopic lipid aggregates with their
hydrophobic moieties in contact with each other and their
hydrophilic groups interacting with the surrounding water.
Lipid Micelle Liposome

Thus, membranes were possibly formed and encapsulated all the components of a
simple prokaryotic cell.

Origin of Mitochondria
Endosymbiotic Theory – symbiotic bacteria
in eukaryote cell
• Separate DNA
• Inner membrane = bacterial membrane
• Bacteria-like ribosomes
In-folding of cell membrane:
Origin of Nucleus & E. R.
 When did life begin?
• Stromatolites (3.5 bill. Years)
• Rocks with distinctive layer
structure.
• Look identical to living mats of
microbes.
Stromatolites

• What is Stromatolites
• Cynobacteria forms a matrix on
sediments
• A new layer is deposited on the top
• Bacreria grow up through new layer

Origin of Life
Summary
 Phylogenetic Relationships
All living organisms fall into one of
three large groups (kingdoms, or
domains).
• Two large groups of
prokaryotes are Archaebacteria
(Primitive) and Eubacteria
(True).
• Eubacteria are biochemically
well characterized.
• Archaebacteria are less
characterized and found in
extreme environments—salt
lakes, hot springs, highly acidic
bogs, and the ocean depths.
• All eukaryotic organisms
evolved from the same branch
that gave rise to
Archaebacteria.
Characteristic Prokaryotic Eukaryotic
Size Generally small Generally large
(1-10 µm) (5-100 µm)

Genome Nucleoid, DNA not DNA complexed with

surrounded by proteins, surrounded
membrane by nuclear envelope
Cell Division Fission or budding Mitosis & Meiosis
Organelles Absent Membrane bound
organelles
Metabolism No Mitochondria Mitochondria
Cytoskeleton None Microtubules, Actin &
filaments
Intracellular None Vesicular transport,
Movement Endocytosis,
Phagocytosis
References
1. CAMPBELL B I O L O G Y (9th Edition)
Section; Unit 4, Chapter 25
Jane B. ReeceLisa A. Urry
Michael L. Cain
Steven A. Wasserman
Peter V. Minorsky
Robert B. Jackson

Lehninger
PRINCIPLES OF BIOCHEMISTRY (4th Edition)
Chapter 1
David L. Nelson
Michael M. Cox )

I hope I could give you some knowledge about how life originated.