100 0fll 0l lll0

88800 0
l00 N8f00 1998 l8800 0l
88ll08l 600f80l0 N88Il0
2
What klnd of place was prlmordlal Earth7
The young sun
shone
with only 70%
of its present power.
Four billion years ago.
The atmosphere held
no free oxygen.
There were few sounds beyond the
wind, the hiss of lava hitting water,
the boom of meteorites.
No plants, no animals, no bacteria, no
viruses.
3
What klnd of place was prlmordlal Earth7
No one knows exactly what Earth was like
when life began.
Rocks that may have held
clues
were deformed long ago
by the movements of the crust.
4
ld llfe begln ln a ball of lce7
"The colder the
temperature, the
more stable the
compounds.
nterplanetary debris, hydrothermal
vents, atmospheric reactions:
formaldehyde, cyanide, ammonia.
These then combine with water in a
lattice of ice, resulting in glycine.

ld llfe begln ln a pond7

Darwin and his
contemporaries
imagined life
evolving in a
small body of
water.
Compounds may have been
concentrated on the surfaces of
sheet-like minerals, which attract
certain molecules and act as a
catalyst for subsequent reactions.

ld llfe begln ln a cauldron7

"Gases released
from the molten
magma would
have been
constantly
seeping from
the surface,
leaching out vital
compounds.
Resting on a stabilizing surface of
pyrite, carbon monoxide and a
methyl group combine, one step in
the formation of activated acetic
acid, a crucial chemical for
synthesizing other organic
compounds.
7
lller-0rey Experlment, 1963
Primeval atmosphere:
CH
4
, H
2
, NH
3
Early ocean
Lightning
By sparking the
atmosphere,
Miller hoped to
generate new
chemicals that
would rain into
the tiny ocean
and react to
form something.

lller-0rey Experlment, 1963

" turned on the
experiment one
night at 10 p.m.
Then came
back the next
morning, and
the water inside
the flask had
turned yellow.
What he had
was a rich broth
of amino acids,
used by all
known creatures
as the building
blocks for
proteins.
$18llf Nllll8
f8l00f 0l
Ff00l0ll0 000Ml8lf
N8f 19J0 - Z0 N8 Z00

lller-0rey Experlment, 1963

Primeval atmosphere:
CH
4
, H
2
, NH
3
Early ocean
Lightning
Many scientists
now suspect
that the early
atmosphere was
different from
what Miller first
supposed.
CO
2
, N
2
***
*** CO
2
+ N
2
= G organic molecules $cientists find it hard to imagine life emerging from such a diluted soup.
10
elp from outer space.
A large variety of organic compounds, including
those which play a major role in biochemistry
such as amino acids, purines, pyrimidines, etc.,
have been identified in one class of meteorites,
the carbonaceous chondrites.
11
eflnltlon of Llfe
Life is ".a self-
sustained chemical
system capable
of undergoing
Darwinian
evolution.
Gerald Joyce,
The $cripps Research
nstitute
12
eflnltlon of Llfe
Life is ".a self-
sustained chemical
system capable
of undergoing
Darwinian
evolution.
Gerald Joyce,
The $cripps Research
nstitute
Darwinian evolution:
1. Able to reproduce by
making copies of
themselves.
2. Copies must contain
inheritable imperfections
(mutations) that
introduce variations into
the population.
3. $ystem of natural
selection that favors
survival of some
individuals over others.
13
Llfe beglns to self-assemble
Before DNA and proteins evolved,
before even the simplest bacteria
appeared, life may have consisted
solely of RNA molecules floating in
the sea, replicating, mutating, and
undergoing natural selection on their
own.
As DNA and proteins evolved, these
more specialized molecules took over
most of the critical work from RNA.
14
ells take form
At some unknown point life found a home inside
a protective membrane, forming the very first
cells.
1
lobal gas warfare
$tromatolites:
microorganisms (cyanobacteria) + rock
1
%he trlumph of 0
2
Bacteria that use oxygen
generate energy far more
efficiently than their oxygen-
hating neighbors.
Fermentation: 2 molecules of ATP
from one molecule of sugar
Aerobic respiration: 3 molecules
of ATP from one molecule of sugar
17
%he orlgln of sex
Asexual reproduction:
organisms make
genetically identical
copies of themselves.
"With the evolution of sex
you get a lot of genetic
recombination, a lot of
possibility for change.
- Andy Knoll, Harvard
University
1
%he orlgln of sex
Asexual reproduction:
organisms make
genetically identical
copies of themselves.
"With the evolution of sex
you get a lot of genetic
recombination, a lot of
possibility for change.
- Andy Knoll, Harvard
University
1
%he 0rlgln of Llfe ade Easy
To view the video again on the Origin of
Life, go to http://www.youtube.com and
search for "Origin of Life Made Easy.
20
$ummary
The recurring idea throughout this discussion is that:
right ingredients + right conditions
spontaneous abiotic formation of organic compounds,
(starting with monomers, which later polymerized, eventually
forming the complex biomolecules that make up today's
living
organisms)
Recap the trends in the evolution of living organisms
are:
Unicellular before multicellular organisms
Heterotrophs before autotrophs
Anaerobic before aerobic
Asexual reproduction before sexual reproduction