Origin of Life on Earth

Planetesimals >>small solid celestial bodies that may have existed at the early development of the solar system were
floating around, the same zone where the terrestrial planets are now located.

The birth of Earth from the accumulation of asteroids and comets is estimated to occur about 4.5 billion years ago.

Propositions That Attempted To Explain How Life Began Billions Of Years Ago

Stage 1

Abiotic synthesis of polymers of nucleotides and amino acids

Alexander Oparin (Russian biochemist) and John Haldane (Scottish biologist)—1920s

>> proposed the spontaneous generation that produced the “primordial soup,” which eventually gave rise to living
cells

Formation Of Macromolecules:

 Prebiotic (before life)

 Abiotic (without life)

Prebiotic Soup > slow process involving gases and micromolecules which eventually became the origin of life on
Earth

Following are some of the ideas and arguments proposed:

Reducing atmosphere hypothesis

Stanley Miller (Jewish-America chemist) & Harold Urey (Miller’s doctoral adviser)—1953

→The very first experiment to test the prebiotic soup theory was conducted wherein they designed replica castes of
primitive Earth, which contained a mixture of water vapor (HO), hydrogen gas (H) methane (CH), and ammonia (NH).
They exposed this setup to electrical discharge to induct a chemical reaction. Formation of hydrogen, cyanide and
formaldehyde (CH₂O) was observed after the experiment observed after the experiment. These products were
believed to be precursors for Bon of more complex molecules like amino acid and glycine. From this experiment, the
idea of the prebiotic soup, which formed into more complex molecules, is plausible.

Extraterrestrial hypothesis

Meteorites, comets, and asteroids sometimes reach the surface of primitive Earth. These materials are thought to
contain organic carbon. They also brought to Earth carbonaceous chondrites and significant amounts of amino acids
and nucleic bases. Although this idea was opposed repeatedly by the fact that intense heat can destroy the large
bodies in the atmosphere, it is still one of the hypotheses proposed to support the idea of the formation of life from the
prebiotic soup.

Deep-sea vent hypothesis

Günther Wächtershäuser (German organic chemist)—1988

→ proposed that organic molecules with the same composition as the prebiotic soup were formed in the cracks on
Earth’s surface underneath the ocean
Deep-sea vents

→ cracks where hot gases such as hydrogen sulfide (HS) and metal ions are released, heat the water on the vent,
and immediately mix with cold seawater.

→reveal the presence of complex biological communities that live and acquire energy not from the sun but from the
vent itself

From this mixture, a gradient is formed and organic molecules are synthesized.

Environmental and Biological Changes Since the Beginning of Earth

Evolution→ played a big role in the history of the planet

The geological time scale shows the timeline of the changes that occurred from billions of years ago up to the
present.

Eons

> are very large divisions of geologic time that is equal to one billion years

> are chronologically subdivided into eras, periods, epochs, age

Two Interactive Processes

Environmental changes

— Affected Earth itself

—greatly changed the surface of Earth, which dictated the types of organisms that lived during different geological
periods

Genetic changes

— Affected the characteristics of the organisms

These two processes collectively influenced the emergence of new species and the extinction of certain organisms.

Climate and temperature. The temperature of Earth’s surface is not uniform; even one country can have different
temperatures from north to south. Certain regions of Earth may be both tropical and temperate.

Atmosphere. The advent of organisms that were capable of photosynthesis caused the increase in the amount of
oxygen in the atmosphere.

Landmasses. Landmasses and surrounding bodies of water formed as the planet cooled down. These were the
environments that are known now as terrestrial and aquatic. The landmasses did not stay in their form and position;
they drifted and got separated from one another.

Floods. The influence of climate created massive and disastrous floods over different geological periods. These
floods occurred not just in two or three days but over longer periods, eventually causing the extinction of certain
organisms.
Glaciation. This is a process, state, or result of being covered by ice sheets or glaciers. One of the effects of
glaciation is the rise in the water level of oceans. Over periods of time, glaciers moved across different continents,
and polar ice caps melted.

Volcanic eruptions. Volcanic eruptions that happened during the different geological periods likewise caused the
changes on Earth and organisms. Eruptions led to the formation of new landmasses, islands, and lakes. Single or
simultaneous eruptions much debris into the atmosphere. These volcanic emissions blocked the solar radiation that
passed through the atmosphere, causing lower temperature and limited photosynthesis.

Meteorite impact. Numerous meteorites passed through and landed on Earth over different geological periods.

Mass extinction. All of the events and changes that happened caused mass extinction of organisms at certain points
in Earth’s history. Five extinctions transpired over the end of the Ordovician, Devonian, Permian, Triassic, and
Cretaceous periods. The fossils discovered and recovered by paleontologists, scientists who study the life of past
geological periods, helped in gathering data and determining the changes that happened in both the geological and
biological aspects of Earth billions of years ago.

2 types of mutations

 Small scale mutation

 Large scale mutation

Gregor Mendel» Father of genetics

6 types of glaciers

1) Cirque glaciers
2) Piedmont glaciers
3) Valley glaciers
4) Hanging glaciers
5) Ice field
6) Ice sheet
7) Alphine glaciers

Louiz Agassiz» Theory about glaciers in 1840

Fossils as Historical Manuscripts

Fossilized bones of animals, shells of invertebrates, leaves of plants, impression of cells, and burrows are examples
of fossils that are unearthed by paleontologists to study the past geological period.

We have two different periods in the geological periods. (1) One eon may have simple organisms (2) Another eon
may show more complex organisms that existed on Earth.

Dating fossils- is done based on the relative weight of the solid particles that settle from them. The heavier particles
come first and the lighter ones follow after.

Radioisotope (Radioactive Isotopes) dating- is the most common way of estimating the age of fossils. This method
involves the elemental isotopes. Isotope decay patterns such as carbon to nitrogen, potassium to argon, rubidium to
strontium, and uranium to lead are used to date geological materials and to determine the age of a fossil, the
paleontologist use this process by estimating the age of the fossil based on the decaying fossils that unearthed by
them.

Carbon-14 dating- determining the age of other fossils is usually not done on the fossils itself, in other words, they
take another fossil that is around the adjacent fossils, they will study it to find out if the fossils that are around him are
the same.
 Archaean eon: The Prokaryotic Cells
The Archaean eon (ancient) was the geological time in Earth’s history when different microorganisms thrived within
the oceaEart

Prokaryotes

» single-celled organisms or organisms that lack true nucleus, dominated the early Earth

The Two Groups Of Prokaryotes

Eubacteria (bacteria)

→organisms dominate the modern world

→can thrive from inside a human’s nose to the roots of a plant in either aerobic (with oxygen) or anaerobic condition

Archaea (archaebacteria)

→present in a lesser percentage

→can be found in environments with the most extreme conditions such as in geysers and hydrothermal volcanic
vents

Prokaryotic organisms

 First organisms on Earth which derived their energy from eating other organisms or materials on Earth were

Heterotrophs

—did not have any metabolic pathways to process induced the depletion of resources from organic matter in the
primitive Earth

Autotrophs

—photosynthetic organisms that are capable of processing or metabolizing their own food, releasing oxygen in the
atmosphere as waste product

—organisms that can metabolize acquired energy

Cyanobacteria (blue-green algae)

› are microscopic organisms found naturally in all types of water

› single-celled organisms live in fresh, brackish (combined salt and fresh water), and marine water.

› use sunlight to make their own food.

› can induce the formation of layered rocks

› were preserved in fossils and considered the first organisms on Earth are similar to and not the heterotrophs
previously discussed as the primitive organisms.

Stromatolites

> are found in aquatic environments and, cyanobacteria can grow and produce layers and layers of these structures,
thus preserving the cells in the lower layers

> formation of layered rocks