Question

In laboratory experiments, the spontaneous formation of membranous vesicles has been both slow and relatively unproductive.

However, when scientists added a mineral that is produced by the erosion of volcanic ash to their experimental conditions, the speed and total amounts of membranous vesicles that formed increased dramatically.
Which of the following statements best explains why these experimental results support the idea of abiogenesis of life on Earth?

• A. Meteorites that struck the surface of early Earth may have contained lipid molecules, making the formation of membranous vesicles possible.
• B. Early Earth was experiencing a large amount of volcanic activity, so there was an abundance of minerals that could have increased vesicle formation.
• C. The speed of vesicle formation and total amount produced are irrelevant details in the discussion of the formation of life because it only took the formation of a single vesicle for life to begin.
• D. The more vesicles that can form increase the likelihood that vesicles would fuse to form larger vesicles with enough interior space for enzymes to function.

Answer 1

Answer: (B)

Early Earth was experiencing a large amount of volcanic activity, so there was an abundance of minerals that could have increased vesicle formation.

As per the experiment the minerals were present in the volcanic ash so the probability that there were a large number of volcanic eruptions that have increased the vesicle formation support the results of the experiment.

So, the correct answer is 'Early Earth was experiencing a large amount of volcanic activity, so there was an abundance of minerals that could have increased vesicle formation'