How did the first life on earth arise?

Question

In the primordial soup, there were apparently molecules such as amino acids and such. How did these organize themselves into the first living organisms?

Love Jack

Philosoph - yes, chance. But I mean the mechanics. How did amino acids, RNA, DNA, etc, combine to form a living organism? In other woirds, the physical union - how and why did it come about?

Answer 1

there were amino acids, proteins, fats and carbohydrates present in the water which came together and formed molecules and cells. the cells started reproducing and there was an emergence of life on earth........................well if u belive in god then its an gods creation.

Answer 2

There are a number of different hypotheses about how this event ("abiogenesis") occurred:

The Primordial Soup idea is that the original conditions of the earth (anoxic, rich in organic molecules, storms, heat) are able to induce the formation, and polymerisation, of organic molecules: so you get short polypeptides, lipids, and short polynucleotides. The "RNA world" hypothesis notes that RNA can act as an information store (like DNA), and can also act as an enzyme. So, it is suggested, short RNA oligomers might be capable of autocatalysis (forming copies of themselves - as is observed in DNA replication nowadays). These RNAs would, naturally, become more common as a result - but many of the copies would have mistakes (ie "mutations") because such self-replication would be extremely error-prone. From there, you can get the start of "evolution", because some copies will be better at self-replication, and so on.
Some of these copies might also be able to bind the polypeptides that will exist at this point. Such associations might have a number of effects: maybe they destabilise one or both of the molecules, or maybe they stabilise each other; or possibly, the RNA might be able to catalyse the polymerisation of such polypeptides. This is the beginning of the "central dogma" of molecular biology (DNA-RNA-protein). If some of the proteins can catalyse other reactions, then you have the beginning of a primitive "metabolism" of sorts.
The though goes that, eventually, these primitive chemical "organisms" might recruit lipids to form a membrane and contain them - and then you have the first cell.

Panspermia notes the low chances of each of these stages, and posits that life must have come from elsewhere in the universe, because there was not enough time from the coalescing of earth to the first appearance of life (around 1 billion years). Of course, this just shunts the problem elsewhere, because we have to ask "Where did life arise?" and "How did it arise there?". Also, from the "birth" of the universe to the first appearance of life was only ~ 10 billion years, and the question remains - is *that* long enough?
It also misses an important point about evolution (which, theoretically, can begin as soon as you have self-replication with variation), which is the tendancy for beneficial events to remain, while detrimental ones do not. So, for example, if you want to get six "6"s rolled on 6 dice, you can just keep rolling until you get 6x6, or you can roll, set the sixes to one side, roll again, set any sixes aside, and so on. The second method is a *lot* quicker.

The "Clay Hypothesis" is an adjunct to the RNA world idea, because it suggests that clays might have formed the first catalytic surfaces on which organic molecules might arise. This greatly increases the rate at which such molecules would form, even before any with autocatalytic properties might arise.

Of course, all these ideas are still highly conjectural. Much more so than the Theory of Evolution by Natural Selection, which has been observed and used many times.
The ideas of abiogenesis depend on the theory of evolution, but evolution itself has nothing to do with abiogenesis.

Answer 3

Perfect climate and temperature..... presence of all the materials... makes it happen. Even today organisms are formed in certain places where everything is rite... As told on Discovery channel long back...
And also it became possible cos of the hand of God and his purpose for man on earth...

Answer 4

Not sure how, but over thousands and thousands of years those one celled organisms came out of the water and crawled up onto land and grew arms and legs. Not very technical I know.

Answer 5

Hey, look! Jack is back.

To all who might think spend a lot of time answering Jack seriously, don't waste your time.

Jack is not looking for answers, merely using this forum to state opinions and beliefs.

Answer 6

Chance.

Answer 7

Sorry man, i respect everything about biology and i love learning the scientific reasong to the creation of life, but it just can't convince me about a type of evolution in elements, i'm still in with a god or a higher power....

Answer 8

The little fair went "Ding!" and then the earth became populated.

Answer 9

Read the Book of Genesis in the Bible.

Answer 10

don't know but I'll bet it started global warming