
Chicken or the Egg? A RIDDLE or A THEORY?
Ever wondered or thought of figuring out the answer of the world famous unsolved riddle “Which came first, chicken or the egg? If taken a literal interpretation of the Bible, it would put the chicken before the egg. To quote Genesis: “And God blessed them, saying, be fruitful, and multiply, and fill the water in the seas, and let fowl multiply in the earth.” There is no creation, so neither the egg nor the chicken came first.
But, astoundingly, scientists like James Watson and Francis Crick worked out the first ever 3D structure of the DNA. The structure was a double helix with two long chains of four basic chemicals which acted as the basic alphabets for the language of life. This structure and its stability permitted information storage for all of life’s needs. Each of this chain specified the content of its partner. This arrangement suggested a mechanism for reproduction. The two strands of the DNA double helix parted company. As they did so, new DNA building blocks, called nucleotides. Two double helices now existed in place of one, each a replica of the original.
This double helix structure initiated an avalanche of discoveries about how living cells function and reproduce. They also triggered speculations about life’s origins. There are various definitions of life because it is one of the least understood subjects. The simplest and accurate definition would be “Life is a self-sustained chemical system capable of undergoing evolution”.
Genes are a sequence of DNA, Richard Dawkins elaborated on this in his book The Selfish Gene: “At some point a remarkable molecule was formed by accident. We will call it the Replicator. It may not have been the biggest or most complex but it could make copies of itself, which is uncommon for a molecule.” DNA fits as a perfect candidate for this molecule. But there were a lot of complications, as DNA replication cannot proceed without the help of a number of proteins, proteins are members of a family of large molecules that are chemically different from DNA. just like DNA proteins are constructed by linking smaller units called amino acids, together it forms a long chain. Cells use twenty such different blocks in combination to do a variety of tasks. Enzymes a subclass of proteins act in speeding up chemical processes that would otherwise take place too slowly for life to exist. DNA holds the recipe for proteins. Yet that information cannot be retrieved or copied without the help of some proteins in the first place.
So which molecules appeared first? Is it the proteins (the chicken) or DNA (the egg)? A possible solution appeared when we introduced RNA. this class of molecule is like DNA, assembled by the same building blocks played a versatile role inside a cell. Certain RNA carries information from the DNA to construct proteins. RNA takes many forms during the process it can also form a double helix that resembles the DNA. In 2006 the Nobel prizes in both chemistry and medicine were awarded for discoveries concerning the role of RNA in editing and censoring DNA instructions.
A simple solution for the chicken-and-egg riddle fell into place. Life began with the appearance of the first RNA molecule. Nobel Laureate Walter Gilbert of Harvard University quoted “One can mull over an RNA world, containing only RNA molecules that serve to catalyze the synthesis of themselves. And The first step of evolution proceeds then by RNA molecules performing the catalytic activities necessary to assemble themselves from a nucleotide soup.” In this vision, the first self-replicating RNA that emerged from non-living matter carried out the functions now executed by RNA, DNA and proteins. Various other clues also supported the idea that RNA appeared much before proteins and DNA in the evolution of life.
So to conclude it was RNA all this time, and where did RNA come into existence? Was it really randomness that led to the formation of the first RNA molecule? Or are we descendants of a really old alien species whose RNA somehow travelled through the depths of space, preserved in time, took a piggyback ride to earth millions of years ago on a frozen comet?
Keep thinking! Maybe you, our next scientist in the origin-of-life field can crack it.

For Kritika happiness is chocolates, loads of Netflix, journal scribblings and of course music. A child at heart she is currently grappling with adulting. On any given day you’ll find her on the lookout to learn new things and the perfect cup of coffee. Drop in a line at storyweavers@byjus.com if you liked her stories or have exciting ideas to share!
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Answer is egg because.A seed unknowingly evolved into egg
Solo funny…
If the egg not heated by her mother then egg was not hatched so,I guess chicken came first
Your site is so fantastic. I’m going to come back here again.
Yes the answer is egg
No it is wrong,not a chicken not an egg. It is an evolution of any animal of the past
No it’s hen
I guess chicken is the first
I think so, chicken is the first.
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Keep up the great work guyz.
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🤔🤔🤔🤔🤔🤔🤔………. Life began with RNA
Good topic to think about….. Thank you Byju’s for this information!!
How?
I always tried to figure this out and my answer was very much closer it yet it was great to read it in a much more scientific explanation.😉😉
Of course,egg is the first because if you ask anyone the plant is first or the seed is first they’ll tell
the seed is first
but a seed can never be obtained until you have a plant…. i think it is an unanswered question
I think it’s egg.
egg come first as lizards and other animal ‘s egg may come first than chicken or chicken egg
😉
Very nice article, it let in the swimming pool of curiosity to think n learn more! Thank u 😃
Yes you told right
I guess egg came first
No, the answer is not an EGG. It is the CHICKEN.
Chicken is first because all the nutrition which is necessity for the
Egg development are from chicken
I think it is chicken
First of all,
We gets millions or billions or trillions of cells,
Then we get a piece of tissue (The egg shell),
The the evolution of chick came into existence,
A new born baby came out of the shell,
NOTE:- 1. The birds like chicken,crow,sparrow etc.
Are from the age of dinosaura.
NOTE:- 2. The evolution of chick happen because of,
Micro Organizim (GOOD BACTERIA)
The web site is so nice
Two birds that weren’t really chickens created a chicken egg, and that egg hatched a chicken. So technically egg came first.
Egg came first
In my opinion Chicken came first.
I think chicken came first because an egg will not hatch without the heat provided by the chicken.
Chicken the first
The egg came first……… A theory is that just like humans have evolved from apesand as evolution is a slow process and there are slight changes in every generation, even there is a genetic difference in me and my father, and eventually chicken have evolved from other beings…ummmm….. Lets call them protochicken………..the story is, a protochicken mates with another protochicken and lays an egg from that the genes change slightly and the first chicken is born in existence another protochicken lays an egg and another gender chicken comes to existence, and the generation continues………so, the egg came first.
The egg came first….. A theory suggests that there is a slight difference of genes in every generation, even there is a slight genetic difference in me and my father……… So there was a species before the chicken, let’s call them protochicken……. A protochicken mates and lays an egg and there comes ot a chicken another chicken is born and the generation continues with a new species called chicken.
Chicken is first because I think chicken evolved from microbes or from soul and then laid eggs
Oops not soul it’s soil
It’s a very good topic to discuss,though. Thanks Byjus
I think the answer is chicken
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The chicken came first.
According to some scientist A very similar creature like chicken ,suppose, a proto chicken met with another proto chicken.
And because of some mutation in the zygote a chicken is formed. From a proto-chicken egg
It’s a EGG ,
And a riddle
Ya egg very nice site….
I am bit confused
Egg or chicken? I am bit confused
Yes the answer is egg
Answer is egg
Egg
I think chicken. Hi
I guess chicken is the first
The answer is actually chicken. There were pre-chickens existing
Before chickens. They were like primitive chickens.so due to
Evolution chickens came to the earth.
I think it is the chicken which came first because due to evolution micro organisms may have given rise to an organism say the chicken….🐔🐓
I like your site and I also think that egg come first
The chicken comes first. Because scientists have found that the element which is needed to form an egg is present in the chicken. That proves that chicken cames first
Ofcourse egg…everything in this world comes with a small version….nothing comes directly as an adult version…right??
I think egg…everything in this world, comes with an baby version….nothing comes directly as an adult …right??
My answer is god
Which came first ?
The chicken
Egg is the answer because if the egg was not there so hen also would not be there
No it is wrong,not a chicken not an egg. It is an evolution of any animal of the past
I think the egg is first as it is a cell , The cell basic functional and structural unit of life has been first, that’s why I think egg is first
Egg can’t be an answer because the contents which are in the shell of the egg, is only found in the hen.
But chick can not exist without the egg….
So its still a riddle …..
Answer:chicken
Man is first
Human beings are first
Egg is the right answer.
Maybe EGG came first
Egg
Thankyou byjus for making me think on this question.
I guess it’s a chicken
Hen first,
Chicken came first because mother comes before child
The chicken is first.
It’s chicken bcz without sex and fertization an egg can’t get formed
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Manav you are right if the egg is not heated how would the chicken hatch?
I think egg came first as egg is unicellular and a chicken is multicellular and we know that every living thing starts of as a single cell.
Very interesting!
Love reading with byjus app.
HEN was came first because the membrane of egg need a kind of special material which only produce by HEN
I think an egg as the egg will evolve into a chicken….
Your Message *egg came first
I think so the answer is egg.
I’m really enlightened by the facts provided by the Byju’s.
I think so that without egg chicken can’t be hatch so egg came frist
I think so that egg came first
I think the answer is chicken because there must be an unknown species that evolved into an chicken of course not in a egg…….😘😘🤣😎😎😎
Vola !!! Where does an egg come from a HEN where does a hen come from an EGG !! Basically both came first out of nowhere ! Ha here you go James Watson and Francis Crick
The answer is egg because it could be dinosaurs egg too. 😅