What evidence do we have for the origin of life from inanimatematter?
What evidence do we have for the origin of life from inanimatematter?
ABritish scientist, J.B.S. Haldane, suggested that life originatedfrom simple inorganic molecules. He believed that when the earth wasformed, it was a hot gaseous mass containing elements such asnitrogen, oxygen, carbon, hydrogen, etc. These elements combined toform molecules like water (H2O),carbon dioxide (CO2),methane (CH4),ammonia (NH3),etc.
Afterthe formation of water, slowly the earth surface cooled and theinorganic molecules interacted with one another in water to formsimple organic molecules such as sugars, fatty acids, amino acids,etc. The energy for these reactions was provided by solar radiations,lightning, volcanic eruptions, etc.
This wasproved by the experiment of Stanley L. Miller and Harold C. Urey in1953.
Theytook a mixture of water (H2O),methane (CH4),ammonia (NH3),and hydrogen gas (H2)in a chamber and sparks were passed through this mixture using twoelectrodes. After one week, 15% of the carbon from methane wasconverted into amino acids, sugars, etc. These organic molecules arepolymerized and assembled to form protein molecules that gave rise tolife on earth.
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Miller and Urey experiment
ABritish scientist, J.B.S. Haldane, suggested that life originatedfrom simple inorganic molecules. He believed that when the earth wasformed, it was a hot gaseous mass containing elements such asnitrogen, oxygen, carbon, hydrogen, etc. These elements combined toform molecules like water (H2O),carbon dioxide (CO2),methane (CH4),ammonia (NH3),etc.
Afterthe formation of water, slowly the earth surface cooled and theinorganic molecules interacted with one another in water to formsimple organic molecules such as sugars, fatty acids, amino acids,etc. The energy for these reactions was provided by solar radiations,lightning, volcanic eruptions, etc.
This wasproved by the experiment of Stanley L. Miller and Harold C. Urey in1953.
Theytook a mixture of water (H2O),methane (CH4),ammonia (NH3),and hydrogen gas (H2)in a chamber and sparks were passed through this mixture using twoelectrodes. After one week, 15% of the carbon from methane wasconverted into amino acids, sugars, etc. These organic molecules arepolymerized and assembled to form protein molecules that gave rise tolife on earth.
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Miller and Urey experiment
