Origins of Life

How did living organisms come into

being for the first time?

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Origins of first living cells
 Hypothesis 1: 1920s – life started in a “warm little pond”
(primitive soup)
 A. I. Oparin and J.B.S. Haldane
 Simple inorganic molecules are formed without oxygen in
the atmosphere

 Energy for synthesis

comes from lighting and
intense UV radiation

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The Miller-Urey experiment (University of Chicago, 1953) was
a 1st attempt at simulating ancient earth conditions and proving
that simple organic molecules could have formed

Components:
Water (H2O) was heated to mimic water cycle
of ancient ocean
Gases like methane (CH4) hydrogen (H2) and
ammonia (NH3)
 Thought to be abundant in ancient earth
Electricity as a form of energy (mimic
sunlight, thunderstorms

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Analysis revealed
that after a few
weeks, the liquid
became cloudy, dark
brown and contained
amino acids

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 Hypothesis 2: 1977 – life started in submerged volcanoes
and deep-sea vents where hot water a minerals gush from
Earth’s interior
 Research submarine (Alvin) samples water
 Sample rich in hydrogen

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Hypothesis 3: 1969 – life was imported by a meteorite

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 1979 – extinction of dinosaurs (65.5 million years ago)
 Alvarez, Luis and Walter – research in Italy
 Gathered chemical evidence from rocks
 Observe sediments not naturally occurring (iridium)
 Conclude that asteroid hit the Earth
 1991: Discovery of crater in Mexico
 Extinction of dinosaurs changed the course of
evolutionary history

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 Organisms that went extinct include about
half of all marine species and many
terrestrial plants and animals, including
most dinosaurs.
NORTH
AMERICA
Chicxulub
Yucatán crater
Peninsula