Soup of Life

Imagine a flaming fireball coming out of the sky falling onto a planet with water, methane, ammonia, and hydrogen that filled the atmosphere with levels which made life almost unlivable. This ball could have induced such energy or added its own mixtures which may have allowed organic materials to form and develop. These molecules eventually may have led to other processes which created genetic information, cells and more.

Creating organic materials from inorganic was thought to be impossible to some until it was shown otherwise by Miller and Urey in the 1950s. Their experiment contained materials which some would think to be gasses from ancient earth and energy which could simulate the energy which could have forced forward the reaction to occur. After a few days, they were able to extract amino acids and other organic compounds. This of course, obtained the attention of many who may have thought they discovered how the first forms of life began. Some consider that it was aldehydes which reacted with potassium cyanide to become amino acids through this Strecker synthesis.

Some have tried to replicate the experiment as the view of what was in the atmosphere has changed. Some experiments showed that there were no amino acids observed and some showed less. I think it is very interesting that these could be obtained. Perhaps some setups for this to occur are better than others, but to figure out which was the best is a whole other issue to discover. Also, I think the best possible outcome might not even be the one that occurred when the first organic forms of life appeared but I also do think much needed to be in place so that there could be many to appear and increase the likelihood of these becoming something more complex.

As time went on going beyond amino acid information was needed, and researching where genetic information may have appeared was the next step. This led to the RNA world hypothesis which estimates that RNA may have been involved in the beginning and led to the production of DNA. Nucleobases which make DNA or RNA was researched by Oro and Kimball in 1961 who were able to synthesize some nucleobases specifically purines. This used HCN to produce formamide to go through a process to become the purines when placed in correct pH and temperature.

Today we have gone further and found information about how nucleosides were put together. And as we discussed cells deciding how the first membranes may have been formed creating these cells was also given attention. These may have started more as vesicles which could have eventually lead to the bipolar membranes we know today.

As we go forward we are still interested in the exact materials of ancient earth which caused the first forms of life to appear. This information is obtained using records of the past we can see in modern-day settlements or rocks. Finding how life occurred may help us discover more about how our DNA systems are controlled and more about what conditions are needed to create organic materials. As we have found information on how to produce certain nucleotides, and how cells create membranes, we get closer to discovering how evolution may have led to more complex organisms.

Sources:

http://www.annualreviews.org.ezproxy.shsu.edu/doi/pdf/10.1146/annurev-earth-040610-133457 (Miller-Urey and Beyond: What Have We Learned About Prebiotic Organic Synthesis Reactions in the Past 60 Years?)