How did life begin?

Question

Scientifically speaking, what are the ideas which explain the actual beginning of life? I've heard phrases like "primordial ooze" being thrown around, but what exactly does that refer to? Is there an accepted theory? Most of us are only familiar with the "survival of the fittest" aspect of the process of evolution, but there are other aspects such as genetic drift that most people are undereducated about. Is there an aspect of evolutionary theory that explains the origen of life, or are there any other interesting ideas to explain it?

Great answer. I wonder why they don't teach this stuff in school.

It's actually fairly obvious that, if current forms of life developed by "competition", which is a really simple way of saying that if it didn't work, it wouldn't exist, then life itself would have formed by similarly random conjunctions of elements would form into molecular structures which protected and propagated themselves when a planet cools to a temperature where they're not boiling or frozen... not because of "competition" or some "will to survive", but because if they didn't randomly form that way, they would no longer exist.

Answer 1

Organic chemicals formed from simple chemical reactions. Eventually nucleic acids were formed by the bonding of organic chemicals. That can be even be reproduced in a laboratory. Chains of nucleic acids formed RNA. Eventually an RNA molecule capable of self replication (simply by having a certain sequence of nucleobases) would have been formed. This would have led to an RNA phenotypic world. Simple molecular shards of RNA, once capable of self replication, would have been subjected to an evolutionary process. But a chemical evolutionary process different from biological evolution. For instance, distinct phenotypes of RNA could have joined or bonded together to form new phenotypes. Later, advanced forms of phenotypic RNA, with the ability to synthesize proteins, store genetic information and reproduce would have evolved. Eventually we would have had viral-like shells synthesized by RNA strands, consisting of maybe as few as 150 codons. We are still a long way away from a cell with complex chromosomes built of DNA, but we are getting there, step-by-step, no?

That life came about first by chemical processes and later through biological evolution is no longer a matter of scientific contention. The really hot question now in science is whether phenotypic RNA evolved protein synthesis and metabolism, or whether these chemical processes started independently (it appears that this is chemically possible) and then merged in an endosymbiotic process.

Answer 2

Great question! The current accepted theory requires you to know the conditions of the early earth when life first started (billions of years ago). There was little or no Oxygen in the air. The waters of the Earth were filled with different elements like Nitrogen, Phospherous and so on. These came from the volcanic eruptions that were going on at the time. The early Earth was not a friendly place n_n hahaha. We wouldnt be able to survive there now.

So anyway, these elements in the water created sort of like a "soup". There was no life, but a lot of "stuff" floating around in the water. these elements (under test conditions similar to that of the early earth) can suddenly combine together to form a membrane. These early membranes. With molecules like amino acids and such contained inside the membrane, a concentration gradient was formed.

This is quite a complex theory. I suggest looking up "origin of life" on wikipedia to see all the theories.

To try and simplify the "soup" theory, elements in the waters of early earth combined together to form more complex molecules. These molecules were cotained in membranes that spontaneously formed. These membranes with molecules inside them, were the precursors of cells. From these beginnings, cells and from cells, all life formed.

Honestly, this process took FOREVER! It seems like its impossible, but its almost impossible to fathom the idea of billions of years.

Answer 3

About the "origin of life"; there is no disgrace in saying honestly, "I don't know how it started". The suggestion to look up the summary of the hypotheses about the origin of life in Wikipedia is a good one. They are hypotheses not theories because despite the hopeful impression that some scientists have a theory, suggested by "dendronbat" and "swallowtail" above, there is no credible evidence for any abiogensis or any other theory. I suggest you look at wikipedia's section on "counterarguments" to see how nebulous the evidence is.

Just be thankful for the "gift of life"; we don't have to know how to create it in order to accept it and enjoy it, good health, peace and love!

Answer 4

Just look at those answers. This must be why parents so much love to say "God said hocus pocus and snapped his fingers".

I think that's the safest theory to go with.

Answer 5

My life began just like the universe............A big bang.