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Chicken or the Egg? A RIDDLE or A THEORY?

Team StoryWeavers|July 19, 2018, 09:37 IST| 103

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.

About the Author


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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Comments



Sunandana Kar

March 22, 2021

Chicken-Egg Theory???


Sunandana Kar

March 22, 2021

Chichen egg theory???️


Aditya

July 9, 2020

Chicken came first.when molecules join it’s not
Possible for egg to come first.


Shreya Shukla

July 8, 2020

Completely Blanked out?


Sneha

July 8, 2020

The answer is chicken because God created chicken not egg…


Harshita singh

July 8, 2020

There is no creation, so neither the egg nor the chicken came first.


Advita Goyal

July 7, 2020

Well….. If we think about it I feel like being a cycle it has no end and as for my answer- A circle has no beginning.


Vyomakesh

July 7, 2020

It’s nice I like it


G N S Rishitha

March 26, 2019

Thanks u sooooooooooooooooo much Byjus


Hriman Mittal

March 3, 2019

The egg came first because some dinosaurs
also laid eggs.


Pragati

December 14, 2018

The answer is egg because it could be dinosaurs egg too. ?


Nishu Chauhan Aerocity Escort

November 16, 2018

Definitely Egg Come First….


Aditya Talawar

November 11, 2018

Answer is:- by breeding of two another type of animals. They lay egg in which chicken was entered in world


Divya

September 22, 2018

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


Shrika

September 6, 2018

I think the answer is chicken because there must be an unknown species that evolved into an chicken of course not in a egg…….??????


PRATIKA PATEL

August 31, 2018

I think so that egg came first


PRATIKA PATEL

August 31, 2018

I think so that without egg chicken can’t be hatch so egg came frist


Ayesha

August 12, 2018

I’m really enlightened by the facts provided by the Byju’s.


Sri varshini

July 29, 2018

I think so the answer is egg.


Nandini L

July 28, 2018

Your Message *egg came first


Khushi from Pune

July 23, 2018

I think an egg as the egg will evolve into a chicken….


KAIF

July 16, 2018

HEN was came first because the membrane of egg need a kind of special material which only produce by HEN


Manshi

July 2, 2018

Very interesting!
Love reading with byjus app.


Apurv Sinha

June 29, 2018

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.


Nandeesh

June 29, 2018

Manav you are right if the egg is not heated how would the chicken hatch?


chouqin

June 29, 2018

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chouqin

June 27, 2018

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chouqin

June 27, 2018

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Ruby

June 26, 2018

It’s chicken bcz without sex and fertization an egg can’t get formed


Kashif

June 24, 2018

The chicken is first.


Dharmendra

June 24, 2018

Chicken came first because mother comes before child


Akshith

June 24, 2018

Hen first,


Sarah Zain

June 24, 2018

Thankyou byjus for making me think on this question.
I guess it’s a chicken


Falak

June 24, 2018

Egg


Falak

June 24, 2018

Maybe EGG came first


Falak

June 24, 2018

Egg is the right answer.


Mayur

June 23, 2018

Human beings are first


Mayur

June 23, 2018

Man is first


Hitesh sial

June 23, 2018

Answer:chicken


Mansi

June 23, 2018

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 …..


Radhika jaswal

June 21, 2018

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


Neeraj

June 19, 2018

No it is wrong,not a chicken not an egg. It is an evolution of any animal of the past


Anushka

June 17, 2018

Egg is the answer because if the egg was not there so hen also would not be there


Jawin

June 17, 2018

Which came first ?
The chicken


Avani

June 17, 2018

My answer is god


Manvi

June 16, 2018

I think egg…everything in this world, comes with an baby version….nothing comes directly as an adult …right??


Manvi

June 16, 2018

Ofcourse egg…everything in this world comes with a small version….nothing comes directly as an adult version…right??


Debjani

June 16, 2018

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


Shriya

June 16, 2018

I like your site and I also think that egg come first


Rohini S Das

June 16, 2018

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….??


Sornalatha

June 15, 2018

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.


Harshini

June 15, 2018

I guess chicken is the first


Suvan mishra

June 15, 2018

I think chicken. Hi


Mehul Dugar

June 15, 2018

Egg


Mehul Dugar

June 15, 2018

Answer is egg


Mehul Dugar

June 15, 2018

Yes the answer is egg


Tanmay

June 14, 2018

Egg or chicken? I am bit confused


Tanmay

June 14, 2018

I am bit confused


Aisha Reyaz

June 14, 2018

Ya egg very nice site….


Yashvardhan

June 14, 2018

It’s a EGG ,
And a riddle


Jessica kashyap

June 14, 2018

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


Anthony

June 14, 2018

Howdy! I just would like to give you a huge thumbs up for your excellent info you’ve got here
on this post. I am coming back to your blog for more soon.


Vanshika

June 12, 2018

I think the answer is chicken


Saswat

June 5, 2018

It’s a very good topic to discuss,though. Thanks Byjus


Suryaansh

May 28, 2018

Chicken is first because I think chicken evolved from microbes or from soul and then laid eggs


Kinshuk

May 28, 2018

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.


Kinshuk

May 28, 2018

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.


Rohith

May 26, 2018

Chicken the first


Utkarsh Verma

May 25, 2018

I think chicken came first because an egg will not hatch without the heat provided by the chicken.


Teena

May 25, 2018

In my opinion Chicken came first.


Siddharth

May 25, 2018

Two birds that weren’t really chickens created a chicken egg, and that egg hatched a chicken. So technically egg came first.


Aditya Raj

May 25, 2018

The web site is so nice


Vaibhav

May 25, 2018

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)


Priyanka

May 25, 2018

I think it is chicken


Tejas r gowda

May 24, 2018

Chicken is first because all the nutrition which is necessity for the
Egg development are from chicken


Stefflin

May 24, 2018

No, the answer is not an EGG. It is the CHICKEN.


Shubham

May 24, 2018

I guess egg came first


Manya

May 23, 2018

Very nice article, it let in the swimming pool of curiosity to think n learn more! Thank u ?


Aftab

May 23, 2018

egg come first as lizards and other animal ‘s egg may come first than chicken or chicken egg
😉


Anjana

May 23, 2018

I think it’s egg.


DEVESEREK

May 21, 2018

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


Supriya Jadhav

May 19, 2018

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.??


Harshit

May 18, 2018

How?


Gayatri

May 18, 2018

Good topic to think about….. Thank you Byju’s for this information!!


Joy

May 18, 2018

???????………. Life began with RNA


Boyfriend Background Check

May 18, 2018

Always make sure your boyfriend passes a background check.


Elvie Klingner

May 18, 2018

Keep up the great work guyz.


James Treder

May 17, 2018

This site is absolutely fabulous!


Rishika

May 17, 2018

I guess chicken is the first


Colton Sidwell

May 16, 2018

Your site is so fantastic. I’m going to come back here again.


Abilash. p

May 11, 2018

Answer is egg because.A seed unknowingly evolved into egg


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