Oparin Haldane Theory of

Chemical Evolution

Oparin-Haldane Theory

The Oparin-Haldane hypothesis suggests that life

arose gradually from inorganic molecules, with
“building blocks” like amino acids forming first and
then combining to make complex polymers.
Biogenesis and Abiogenesis

Abiogenesis:

The natural process by which life has arisen from non-living matter, such as
simple organic compounds.

Biogenesis:

The development of life from preexisting life.

Oparin-Haldane Theory
● In the 1920s, the famous British biometric scientist John Haldane and
Aleksandr Oparin, the Russian biochemist independently set forth similar
ideas for the origin of life on Earth.
● Both believed that organic molecules could be formed from abiogenic
materials in the presence of an external energy source.
● For example the ultraviolet radiation, in combination with very low
atmospheric oxygen, ammonia, water vapor, and probably other gases.
● Both agreed that the earliest form of life probably first appeared in the warm
oceans of Earth and were heterotrophic, nurtured by preformed nutrients from
chemicals in existence on early Earth, or brought in by comets compared to
being autotrophic, generating food and nutrients from complex interactions of
the sunlight, including cosmic radiations with inorganic materials.
Oparin-Haldane Theory
● Oparin believed that the life developed from microscopic spontaneously
formed spherical lipid molecules held together by electrostatic forces,
probably the earliest form of cells.
● These molecules most likely functioned as enzymes, essential for the
biochemical metabolic reactions necessary for life’s evolution.
● Haldane, unfamiliar with Oparin’s theory, believed that simple organic
molecules formed first and in the presence of ultraviolet light became
increasingly complex, ultimately forming cells.
● Haldane and Oparin’s ideas formed the foundation for much of the research
on the origin of life, specifically formation of cells.

Miler-Urey Experiment

● The Haldane-Oparin theory on the origin of life was tested to a limited extent by two American chemists, Harold
Urey and Stanley Miller.
● They successfully produced organic molecules from some of the inorganic components thought to have been
necessary for the appearance of life, the prebiotic phase.
● The Miller-Urey experiment included combination of warm water with a mixture of water vapor, methane,
ammonia, and molecular hydrogen exposed to the atmospheric electrical discharges in the form of lightening.
● Miller and Urey found that simple organic molecules, including amino acids (the building blocks of peptides),
had formed under the simulated conditions of early Earth.
● The Miller-Urey experiment demonstrated that organic molecules could form from abiogenic materials under
the constraints of Earth’s prebiotic atmosphere.
● Later research showed that amino acids can spontaneously form small protein molecules (peptides).
● It is also shown that the RNA molecule can be artificially synthesized from nucleotides (nitrogen containing
compounds or bases) linked to sugar and phosphate groups.
● In fact, in addition to carrying and translating genetic information, RNA acts like a catalyst, a molecule that
increases the rate of a reaction without itself being consumed. It is, thus, logical to accept that multiple forms of
RNA existed in the prebiotic phase of abiogenesis that led to the formation of life on Earth or in any wider
context.
 Miller-Urey Experiment
● Miller and Urey built a closed system containing a heated
pool of water and a mixture of gases that were thought to
be abundant in the atmosphere of early earth (H2O,
NO3,CH4,H2 ).
● To simulate the lightning that might have provided energy
for chemical reactions in Earth’s early atmosphere, Miller
and Urey sent sparks of electricity through their
experimental system.
● After letting the experiment run for a week, Miller and Urey
found that various types of amino acids, sugars, lipids and
other organic molecules had formed. Large, complex
molecules like DNA and protein were missing, but the
Miller-Urey experiment showed that at least some of the
building blocks for these molecules could form
spontaneously from simple compounds.

● It has been suggested that peptide nucleic acid (PNA) might have been the
first genetic material that preceded the RNA and DNA. PNA forms very
stable double helical structures and even stable triple helices.
● However, the chemical nature of PNA does not allow it be a sustainable
genetic material necessary for replication, transfer of genetic information or
its reorganization.
● Activated PNA monomers tend to cyclize easily and thus formationof
oligomers is very difficult under prebiotic conditions. Further, and PNA
hydrolyses rather rapidly and thus restricts the chances of it ever being
accumulated in sufficient quantity, for instance deep in the primitive oceans.
● The concept of sunlight (ultraviolet radiation) and energy sources from other
planets in the cosmos (cosmic radiations) influencing the origin of life on
Earth, or indeed anywhere in the cosmos, falls within the field of
Astrobiology.
● The main question remains on the likelihood of the existence of life beyond
the confines of Earth or perhaps in the wider cosmos.