1

theory of biochemistry origin of life by a.i. oparin &J.B.S halidance

expirimental proof of the above thery by Stanley .l.miloler&holder c.vrays

1.Life on earth probably didn't begin until 3.8 - 3.5 billion years ago when the planet had
cooled enough such that water was able to condense from the primitive atmosphere.
2. The oldest known life forms were cyanobacteria (blue-green algae) whose fossils are
preserved as tiny filaments in rocks about 3.5 b.y. old. Thus, the earth was already 1 billion
years old before the first signs of life appeared.
3. Once established, the early life forms continued as simple, unicellular bacteria and
cyanobacteria over the next 1.5 b.y.
4. The first multicellular animals did not appear in the fossil record until 600-700 m.y. ago,
almost 3 b.y. after the first evidence of life.

Early Theories on the Origin of Life

1. It has been realized for some time that the earth's present atmosphere is too oxidizing
and corrosive to allow simple organic compounds to combine into more complex
molecules. A reducing, oxygen poor environment is required.
2. This criteria was met 3.5 b.y. ago when the earth's atmosphere was rich in CO 2, methane,
ammonia and N2, but not free O2. There also was no ozone layer back then, so the earth
was constantly bombarded by ultraviolet radiation that helped catalize the breaking of
bonds in simple organic compounds to form more complex molecules.
3. Charles Darwin (mid-1800's) suggested that organic compounds that were the
precursors of life must have formed in a warm pond containing ammonia and phosphoric
salts that were exposed to light, heat and electricity.
4. In the 1920s, Russian biochemist (A.I. Oparin) and British geneticist J.B.S.
Haldane proposed that an earth with a reducing atmosphere and abundant methane would
have been an ideal "primordial soup" for the origin of life.
5. A reducing (anarobic) environment is required to form C-H compounds. Any free
O2 would prevent this by immediately oxidizing carbon to CO 2 or CO32+

Experiments on the Origin of Life

Miller-Urey
Figure 9.2: The first breakthrough in reconstructing the origin of life came in 1953 when a
simple experiment by Stanley Miller and Harold Urey produced organic compounds in a
flask of ammonia and methane subjected to sparks from electrodes. The organic
compounds produced included cyanide (HCN), formaldehyde (H 2CO) and small quantities
of four amino acids. Later experiments produced the 12 most common amino acids of the
20 known to occur in life.

Linking Simple Organic Molecules into More Complex Molecules

1. A variety of experiments have been conducted which link simple organic molecules into
more complex molecules that are essential for the existence of life.
2. Amino acids are the building blocks of proteins. Experiments demonstrate that amino
acids are not difficult to produce provided there is a reducing environment and a source of
simple chemicals.
3. The next important step in creating life is to link simple organic molecules into complex
chains called polymers. An important question is how to string together amino acids to
form proteins?
4. Sidney Fox (1950s) showed that splashing amino acids under hot, dry conditions caused
them to instantly polymerize into proteins. Other experiments utilizing cyanide, clays and
heat were successful at triggering polymerization of amino acids into proteins.
5. Figure 3.11: Nucleotide bases (adenine, guanine, etc), the essential components of the
nucleic acids RNA and DNA, can be synthesized in the laboratory using aqueous solutions
of ammonium cyanide or hydrogen cyanide subjected to heating or bombardment with
ultraviolet radiation. Scientists, however, have not yet been able to create entire RNA or
DNA molecules in the laboratory.
6. Fatty acids, that form the outer membrane of simple cells, are easily synthesized in the
laboratory and have even been found in meteorites.

7. Figure 9.3: Combining fatty acids and alcohol forms lipids, the chemical building
block of most fats and oils. Lipids are polar molecules with a head made of glycerol and
two tails made of fatty acid chains. The glycerol head is attracted to water whereas the fatty
acid tails are repelled by water. Therefore when lipids are surrounded by water, they tend to
line up with their heads facing the water and tails pointing away. As a result, lipids bead up
when surrounded by water. Organic molecules in the immediate vicinity could be entrained
by the beading process and trapped within a lipid membrane.

Organizing Structures that Approach Cells

1. It's one thing to be able to create amino acids, proteins and other polymers in the
laboratory and encase them in a lipid membrane, but quit another to create an actual living
cell. Living cells have the capability of encoding genetic information and reproducing by
means of RNA and DNA.
2. Several experiments have provided possible insights into how early cells may have
emerged in the primitive earth.
3. We found that when fatty acids are dried and concentrated, and then wetted again, they
spontaneously condense into spherical balls that can trap any DNA present. Therefore, it is
easy to surround DNA with a lipid membrane.
4. Figure 9.4: Sidney Fox and A.I. Oparin were able to experimentally produce small
droplets or spheres of protein called colloidal particles or proteinoids. When colloidal
particles are surrounded by water, they form coacervate drops that can selectively absorb
and release certain compounds in a process similar to bacterial feeding and excretion.
5. These colloidal particles (protocells?) discovered by Fox and Oparin, however, were
incapable of genetic coding and replication and therefore could not be regarded as actual
living organisms.
6. Genetic information in modern cells is carried by the nucleotides RNA and DNA.
Neither have been synthesized in the laboratory, so much speculation occurs as to how they
first came into existence. (a) Some scientists conjecture that proteins formed first and that
the resulting proteinoids collected nucleic acids that could then polymerize into RNA and
DNA. (b) Other scientists argue that nucleic acids formed first, possibly as single-stranded
RNA, and afterwards assembled the protein polymers.

Templates that Could Complex Orgainic Polymers into a Protocell

1. Several theories addressing the polymerization of organic molecules to form protocells
utilize the idea of templates. Templates are surfaces that serve to line up organic molecules
in close order, thus allowing them to bond into more complex molecules.
2. Clays have a structure that can absorb organic molecules and catalyze their breakdown
and synthesis into other products. If clays and associated organic molecules could
somehow become trapped in an organic membrane, then the resulting protocell could have
the makings for early life. Later, newly formed nucleotides could then take over the early
functions of the clay.
3. Zeolites, complex silicate minerals formed as an alteration product of volcanic glass,
also have the complex, repeating structures like clays and can catalyze organic reactions.

Hydrothermal Vents
1. Box 9.1: Perhaps the most fascinating hypothesis proposes that life originated near hot
volcanic vents along deep oceanic spreading centers. Hydrothermal vents possess the
elements and energy source necessary for synthesis of organic molecules. In fact, amino
acids have been detected in hydrothermal vent solutions.
2. The mineral Pyrite, (Fe-Sulfide) which occurs in great abundance around deep-sea
hydrothermal vents, have crystal surfaces that could attract phosphate complexes contained
in many organic molecules, particularly nucleic acids. These organo-phosphate compounds
could line up in close order on the pyrite surface. The crowding together of these molecules
may eventually cause polymerization via organic bonds. Once polymerized, these new
organic complexes could detach from their pyrite template and become free organic
molecules. In this way, nucleic acids and even cell membranes may have evolved.
3. Deep-sea hydrothermal vents are known to be the home of
primitive Archaebacteria which live on H2S, on CH4 or in hot salty springs. The primitive
Archaebacteria may represent the earliest life forms on earth.

Meteorite Bombardment

1. At least 74 amino acids have now been found in chondritic meteorites. In addition, fatty
acids have also been discovered in meteorites leading some scientists to suggest that life on
earth was seeded by organic molecules supplied by bombarding meteorites early in the
history of the earth.

Early Life
Prokaryotes
1. Figure 9.6: The oldest fossils show that life had already split into two groups by 3.5 b.y.
ago. One group, the Eubacteria, include true bacteria plus cyanobacteria. The other group
comprised theArchaebacteria which can live in extremely hot, anoxic water and include
microbes that feed off sulfur compounds or methane.
2. Figure 9.8: The oldest known fossils are found in 3.4 -3.5 b.y. old rocks from
northwestern Australia and South Africa and consist of spherical microfossils arranged in
strings and resembling cyanobacterial filaments. These fossils are thought to represent
primitive cyanobacteria (blue-green algae).
3. Figure 9.7: Cyanobacteria, a member of the kingdom Eubacteria,
are prokaryotes (single celled) whose genetic material is not organized into a descrete
nucleus. Cyanobacteria undergo photosynthesis, a process that converts light, water and
CO2 into complex organic substances. Free oxygen (O 2) is a byproduct.
CO2 + H2O + light = (CH2O) + O2
4. Figure 9.7: Eukaryotes (real algae), which emerged much later at around 1.8 b.y. ago,
are also single celled but have a discrete nucleus.
5. Cyanobacteria form layered mats called stromatolites, which are the only megascopic
fossils in rocks from 3.5 billion to 700 million years in age. Stromatolites can form
cabbage-like domes and a readily recognized in the fossil record.
6. It is envisioned that by 3 billion years ago, the shallow waters of the earth's surface were
filled with stromatolitic, cyanobacterial mats producing abundant free O 2.

Advent of Eukaryotes

1. By 1.8 b.y. ago, atmospheric oxygen released from photosynthesis of cyanobacteria

reached 1% of the present level. Aeraobic bacteria developed while anaerobic bacteria
sought niches within reduced environments.
2. Figure 9.9: The eukaryotes appeared around 1.8 billion years ago as evidenced by the
appearance of acritarchs (organic walled) which may represent the cyst stage of early
eukaryotic algae. Theeukaryotes presently include all single-celled organisms with nuclei
as well as all plants, animals and fungi.
3. Figure 9.10: Eukaryotes may have evolved from earlier colonies of prokaryotes formed
through symbiosis of both archae- and eubacteria beginning around 1.75 billion years ago.

Metazoans
1. Figure 9.13: Life remained fairly simple until about 600-700 m.y. ago when there was a
dramatic change in life forms with the appearance of metazoans.
2. Figure 9.11: Impressions of soft-bodied, 600 m.y. old metazoans (multi-cellular) are
found in Ediacara Hills of Southern Australia. These metazoans included jellyfish,
arthropods (animals with joint legs and segmented bodies) and worm-like creatures up to 1
meter long. Similar fossils are also found in other parts of the world.
3. Between 600 to 550 million years ago, the world was dominated by the Ediacaran,softbodied, forms. These Vendian animals disappeared in the Early Cambrian and were
replaced by small, shelly creatures that thrived in the warm, shallow waters of continental
shelves.

Cambrian Explosion in Shallow Marine Environments

1. Figure 9.13: Trace fossils of burrowing organisms appear in the Early Cambrian.
2. Figure 9.16: The Earliest Cambrian marked the appearence of archaeocyathids (Lower
to Upper Cambrian). Archaeocyathids were colonial organisms resembling modern
sponges in that they were filter feeders and were encased in cone-like structure perforated
with pores. Cambrian reefs were composed of archaeocyathids in addition to stromatolites
formed by cyanobacteria.

3. Figure 9.17: Brachiopods (Cambrian to Recent) are bivalve filter feeders that attach to
the seafloor with a long, fleshy stalk called a pedicle.
4. Trilobites (early arthropods) dominated the Cambrian and Ordovician periods but were
extinct by the end of the Permian. Shells were composed of calcite and organic chitin.
Segments include head (cephalon), body (thorax) and tail (pygidium). Most grazed and
burrowed the seafloor of shelf regions.
5. Molluscs (Cambrian to Recent) were the ancestors of modern clams and snails.
6. Figure 9.18: Echinoderms (Cambrian to Recent) are represented today by starfish, sea
urchins, sand dollars, crinoids and sea cucumbers.
7. Figures 9.19 & 9.20: The Cambrian not only included hard-shelled animals, but also
soft-bodied animals that could only be preserved under exceptional circumstances. The
middle Cambrian Burgess Shale in the Rocky Mountains, British Columbia, preserves an
abundance of unusual soft-bodied animals including arthropods, worm-like animals and
others unlike anything living today.

Possible Reasons for Cambrian Explosion

There are several hypotheses proposed to explain the Cambrian Explosion:
(a) Retreat of Varangian glaciers during a major global warming period.
(b) Atmospheric oxygen reached 6%-10% of present levels which allowed production of
CO32+. The abundance of carbonate allowed organisms to secrete calcitic hard shells.
(c) Rifting of supercontinent created large areas of shallow marine continental shelf.
(d) Rifting and volcanic activity released large amounts of nutrients such as calcium and
phosphate originally trapped in the deep ocean.
(e) Abundant stromatolite mats in the Early Cambrian provided food for primitive
molluscs, leading to almost complete disappearance of these mats during the Cambrian.
(f) Natural selection kicked in, causing rapid diversification of animals and the
development of a food chain.

1.Life on earth probably didn't begin until 3.8 - 3.5 billion years ago when the planet had
cooled enough such that water was able to condense from the primitive atmosphere.
2. The oldest known life forms were cyanobacteria (blue-green algae) whose fossils are
preserved as tiny filaments in rocks about 3.5 b.y. old. Thus, the earth was already 1 billion
years old before the first signs of life appeared.
3. Once established, the early life forms continued as simple, unicellular bacteria and
cyanobacteria over the next 1.5 b.y.
4. The first multicellular animals did not appear in the fossil record until 600-700 m.y. ago,
almost 3 b.y. after the first evidence of life.

Early Theories on the Origin of Life

1. It has been realized for some time that the earth's present atmosphere is too oxidizing
and corrosive to allow simple organic compounds to combine into more complex
molecules. A reducing, oxygen poor environment is required.
2. This criteria was met 3.5 b.y. ago when the earth's atmosphere was rich in CO 2, methane,
ammonia and N2, but not free O2. There also was no ozone layer back then, so the earth
was constantly bombarded by ultraviolet radiation that helped catalize the breaking of
bonds in simple organic compounds to form more complex molecules.
3. Charles Darwin (mid-1800's) suggested that organic compounds that were the
precursors of life must have formed in a warm pond containing ammonia and phosphoric
salts that were exposed to light, heat and electricity.
4. In the 1920s, Russian biochemist (A.I. Oparin) and British geneticist J.B.S.
Haldane proposed that an earth with a reducing atmosphere and abundant methane would
have been an ideal "primordial soup" for the origin of life.
5. A reducing (anarobic) environment is required to form C-H compounds. Any free
O2 would prevent this by immediately oxidizing carbon to CO 2 or CO32+

Experiments on the Origin of Life

Miller-Urey
Figure 9.2: The first breakthrough in reconstructing the origin of life came in 1953 when a
simple experiment by Stanley Miller and Harold Urey produced organic compounds in a
flask of ammonia and methane subjected to sparks from electrodes. The organic
compounds produced included cyanide (HCN), formaldehyde (H 2CO) and small quantities
of four amino acids. Later experiments produced the 12 most common amino acids of the
20 known to occur in life.

Linking Simple Organic Molecules into More Complex Molecules

1. A variety of experiments have been conducted which link simple organic molecules into
more complex molecules that are essential for the existence of life.
2. Amino acids are the building blocks of proteins. Experiments demonstrate that amino
acids are not difficult to produce provided there is a reducing environment and a source of
simple chemicals.
3. The next important step in creating life is to link simple organic molecules into complex
chains called polymers. An important question is how to string together amino acids to
form proteins?
4. Sidney Fox (1950s) showed that splashing amino acids under hot, dry conditions caused
them to instantly polymerize into proteins. Other experiments utilizing cyanide, clays and
heat were successful at triggering polymerization of amino acids into proteins.
5. Figure 3.11: Nucleotide bases (adenine, guanine, etc), the essential components of the
nucleic acids RNA and DNA, can be synthesized in the laboratory using aqueous solutions
of ammonium cyanide or hydrogen cyanide subjected to heating or bombardment with
ultraviolet radiation. Scientists, however, have not yet been able to create entire RNA or
DNA molecules in the laboratory.
6. Fatty acids, that form the outer membrane of simple cells, are easily synthesized in the
laboratory and have even been found in meteorites.
7. Figure 9.3: Combining fatty acids and alcohol forms lipids, the chemical building
block of most fats and oils. Lipids are polar molecules with a head made of glycerol and
two tails made of fatty acid chains. The glycerol head is attracted to water whereas the fatty
acid tails are repelled by water. Therefore when lipids are surrounded by water, they tend to

line up with their heads facing the water and tails pointing away. As a result, lipids bead up
when surrounded by water. Organic molecules in the immediate vicinity could be entrained
by the beading process and trapped within a lipid membrane.

Organizing Structures that Approach Cells

1. It's one thing to be able to create amino acids, proteins and other polymers in the
laboratory and encase them in a lipid membrane, but quit another to create an actual living
cell. Living cells have the capability of encoding genetic information and reproducing by
means of RNA and DNA.
2. Several experiments have provided possible insights into how early cells may have
emerged in the primitive earth.
3. We found that when fatty acids are dried and concentrated, and then wetted again, they
spontaneously condense into spherical balls that can trap any DNA present. Therefore, it is
easy to surround DNA with a lipid membrane.
4. Figure 9.4: Sidney Fox and A.I. Oparin were able to experimentally produce small
droplets or spheres of protein called colloidal particles or proteinoids. When colloidal
particles are surrounded by water, they form coacervate drops that can selectively absorb
and release certain compounds in a process similar to bacterial feeding and excretion.
5. These colloidal particles (protocells?) discovered by Fox and Oparin, however, were
incapable of genetic coding and replication and therefore could not be regarded as actual
living organisms.
6. Genetic information in modern cells is carried by the nucleotides RNA and DNA.
Neither have been synthesized in the laboratory, so much speculation occurs as to how they
first came into existence. (a) Some scientists conjecture that proteins formed first and that
the resulting proteinoids collected nucleic acids that could then polymerize into RNA and
DNA. (b) Other scientists argue that nucleic acids formed first, possibly as single-stranded
RNA, and afterwards assembled the protein polymers.

Templates that Could Complex Orgainic Polymers into a Protocell

1. Several theories addressing the polymerization of organic molecules to form protocells

utilize the idea of templates. Templates are surfaces that serve to line up organic molecules
in close order, thus allowing them to bond into more complex molecules.
2. Clays have a structure that can absorb organic molecules and catalyze their breakdown
and synthesis into other products. If clays and associated organic molecules could
somehow become trapped in an organic membrane, then the resulting protocell could have
the makings for early life. Later, newly formed nucleotides could then take over the early
functions of the clay.
3. Zeolites, complex silicate minerals formed as an alteration product of volcanic glass,
also have the complex, repeating structures like clays and can catalyze organic reactions.

Hydrothermal Vents
1. Box 9.1: Perhaps the most fascinating hypothesis proposes that life originated near hot
volcanic vents along deep oceanic spreading centers. Hydrothermal vents possess the
elements and energy source necessary for synthesis of organic molecules. In fact, amino
acids have been detected in hydrothermal vent solutions.
2. The mineral Pyrite, (Fe-Sulfide) which occurs in great abundance around deep-sea
hydrothermal vents, have crystal surfaces that could attract phosphate complexes contained
in many organic molecules, particularly nucleic acids. These organo-phosphate compounds
could line up in close order on the pyrite surface. The crowding together of these molecules
may eventually cause polymerization via organic bonds. Once polymerized, these new
organic complexes could detach from their pyrite template and become free organic
molecules. In this way, nucleic acids and even cell membranes may have evolved.
3. Deep-sea hydrothermal vents are known to be the home of
primitive Archaebacteria which live on H2S, on CH4 or in hot salty springs. The primitive
Archaebacteria may represent the earliest life forms on earth.

Meteorite Bombardment
1. At least 74 amino acids have now been found in chondritic meteorites. In addition, fatty
acids have also been discovered in meteorites leading some scientists to suggest that life on

earth was seeded by organic molecules supplied by bombarding meteorites early in the
history of the earth.

Early Life
Prokaryotes
1. Figure 9.6: The oldest fossils show that life had already split into two groups by 3.5 b.y.
ago. One group, the Eubacteria, include true bacteria plus cyanobacteria. The other group
comprised theArchaebacteria which can live in extremely hot, anoxic water and include
microbes that feed off sulfur compounds or methane.
2. Figure 9.8: The oldest known fossils are found in 3.4 -3.5 b.y. old rocks from
northwestern Australia and South Africa and consist of spherical microfossils arranged in
strings and resembling cyanobacterial filaments. These fossils are thought to represent
primitive cyanobacteria (blue-green algae).
3. Figure 9.7: Cyanobacteria, a member of the kingdom Eubacteria,
are prokaryotes (single celled) whose genetic material is not organized into a descrete
nucleus. Cyanobacteria undergo photosynthesis, a process that converts light, water and
CO2 into complex organic substances. Free oxygen (O 2) is a byproduct.
CO2 + H2O + light = (CH2O) + O2
4. Figure 9.7: Eukaryotes (real algae), which emerged much later at around 1.8 b.y. ago,
are also single celled but have a discrete nucleus.
5. Cyanobacteria form layered mats called stromatolites, which are the only megascopic
fossils in rocks from 3.5 billion to 700 million years in age. Stromatolites can form
cabbage-like domes and a readily recognized in the fossil record.
6. It is envisioned that by 3 billion years ago, the shallow waters of the earth's surface were
filled with stromatolitic, cyanobacterial mats producing abundant free O 2.

Advent of Eukaryotes

1. By 1.8 b.y. ago, atmospheric oxygen released from photosynthesis of cyanobacteria

reached 1% of the present level. Aeraobic bacteria developed while anaerobic bacteria
sought niches within reduced environments.
2. Figure 9.9: The eukaryotes appeared around 1.8 billion years ago as evidenced by the
appearance of acritarchs (organic walled) which may represent the cyst stage of early
eukaryotic algae. Theeukaryotes presently include all single-celled organisms with nuclei
as well as all plants, animals and fungi.
3. Figure 9.10: Eukaryotes may have evolved from earlier colonies of prokaryotes formed
through symbiosis of both archae- and eubacteria beginning around 1.75 billion years ago.

Metazoans
1. Figure 9.13: Life remained fairly simple until about 600-700 m.y. ago when there was a
dramatic change in life forms with the appearance of metazoans.
2. Figure 9.11: Impressions of soft-bodied, 600 m.y. old metazoans (multi-cellular) are
found in Ediacara Hills of Southern Australia. These metazoans included jellyfish,
arthropods (animals with joint legs and segmented bodies) and worm-like creatures up to 1
meter long. Similar fossils are also found in other parts of the world.
3. Between 600 to 550 million years ago, the world was dominated by the Ediacaran,softbodied, forms. These Vendian animals disappeared in the Early Cambrian and were
replaced by small, shelly creatures that thrived in the warm, shallow waters of continental
shelves.

Cambrian Explosion in Shallow Marine Environments

1. Figure 9.13: Trace fossils of burrowing organisms appear in the Early Cambrian.
2. Figure 9.16: The Earliest Cambrian marked the appearence of archaeocyathids (Lower
to Upper Cambrian). Archaeocyathids were colonial organisms resembling modern
sponges in that they were filter feeders and were encased in cone-like structure perforated
with pores. Cambrian reefs were composed of archaeocyathids in addition to stromatolites
formed by cyanobacteria.

3. Figure 9.17: Brachiopods (Cambrian to Recent) are bivalve filter feeders that attach to
the seafloor with a long, fleshy stalk called a pedicle.
4. Trilobites (early arthropods) dominated the Cambrian and Ordovician periods but were
extinct by the end of the Permian. Shells were composed of calcite and organic chitin.
Segments include head (cephalon), body (thorax) and tail (pygidium). Most grazed and
burrowed the seafloor of shelf regions.
5. Molluscs (Cambrian to Recent) were the ancestors of modern clams and snails.
6. Figure 9.18: Echinoderms (Cambrian to Recent) are represented today by starfish, sea
urchins, sand dollars, crinoids and sea cucumbers.
7. Figures 9.19 & 9.20: The Cambrian not only included hard-shelled animals, but also
soft-bodied animals that could only be preserved under exceptional circumstances. The
middle Cambrian Burgess Shale in the Rocky Mountains, British Columbia, preserves an
abundance of unusual soft-bodied animals including arthropods, worm-like animals and
others unlike anything living today.

Possible Reasons for Cambrian Explosion

There are several hypotheses proposed to explain the Cambrian Explosion:
(a) Retreat of Varangian glaciers during a major global warming period.
(b) Atmospheric oxygen reached 6%-10% of present levels which allowed production of
CO32+. The abundance of carbonate allowed organisms to secrete calcitic hard shells.
(c) Rifting of supercontinent created large areas of shallow marine continental shelf.
(d) Rifting and volcanic activity released large amounts of nutrients such as calcium and
phosphate originally trapped in the deep ocean.
(e) Abundant stromatolite mats in the Early Cambrian provided food for primitive
molluscs, leading to almost complete disappearance of these mats during the Cambrian.
(f) Natural selection kicked in, causing rapid diversification of animals and the
development of a food chain.

1.Life on earth probably didn't begin until 3.8 - 3.5 billion years ago when the planet had
cooled enough such that water was able to condense from the primitive atmosphere.
2. The oldest known life forms were cyanobacteria (blue-green algae) whose fossils are
preserved as tiny filaments in rocks about 3.5 b.y. old. Thus, the earth was already 1 billion
years old before the first signs of life appeared.
3. Once established, the early life forms continued as simple, unicellular bacteria and
cyanobacteria over the next 1.5 b.y.
4. The first multicellular animals did not appear in the fossil record until 600-700 m.y. ago,
almost 3 b.y. after the first evidence of life.

Early Theories on the Origin of Life

1. It has been realized for some time that the earth's present atmosphere is too oxidizing
and corrosive to allow simple organic compounds to combine into more complex
molecules. A reducing, oxygen poor environment is required.
2. This criteria was met 3.5 b.y. ago when the earth's atmosphere was rich in CO 2, methane,
ammonia and N2, but not free O2. There also was no ozone layer back then, so the earth
was constantly bombarded by ultraviolet radiation that helped catalize the breaking of
bonds in simple organic compounds to form more complex molecules.
3. Charles Darwin (mid-1800's) suggested that organic compounds that were the
precursors of life must have formed in a warm pond containing ammonia and phosphoric
salts that were exposed to light, heat and electricity.
4. In the 1920s, Russian biochemist (A.I. Oparin) and British geneticist J.B.S.
Haldane proposed that an earth with a reducing atmosphere and abundant methane would
have been an ideal "primordial soup" for the origin of life.
5. A reducing (anarobic) environment is required to form C-H compounds. Any free
O2 would prevent this by immediately oxidizing carbon to CO 2 or CO32+

Experiments on the Origin of Life

Miller-Urey
Figure 9.2: The first breakthrough in reconstructing the origin of life came in 1953 when a
simple experiment by Stanley Miller and Harold Urey produced organic compounds in a
flask of ammonia and methane subjected to sparks from electrodes. The organic
compounds produced included cyanide (HCN), formaldehyde (H 2CO) and small quantities
of four amino acids. Later experiments produced the 12 most common amino acids of the
20 known to occur in life.

Linking Simple Organic Molecules into More Complex Molecules

1. A variety of experiments have been conducted which link simple organic molecules into
more complex molecules that are essential for the existence of life.
2. Amino acids are the building blocks of proteins. Experiments demonstrate that amino
acids are not difficult to produce provided there is a reducing environment and a source of
simple chemicals.
3. The next important step in creating life is to link simple organic molecules into complex
chains called polymers. An important question is how to string together amino acids to
form proteins?
4. Sidney Fox (1950s) showed that splashing amino acids under hot, dry conditions caused
them to instantly polymerize into proteins. Other experiments utilizing cyanide, clays and
heat were successful at triggering polymerization of amino acids into proteins.
5. Figure 3.11: Nucleotide bases (adenine, guanine, etc), the essential components of the
nucleic acids RNA and DNA, can be synthesized in the laboratory using aqueous solutions
of ammonium cyanide or hydrogen cyanide subjected to heating or bombardment with
ultraviolet radiation. Scientists, however, have not yet been able to create entire RNA or
DNA molecules in the laboratory.
6. Fatty acids, that form the outer membrane of simple cells, are easily synthesized in the
laboratory and have even been found in meteorites.
7. Figure 9.3: Combining fatty acids and alcohol forms lipids, the chemical building
block of most fats and oils. Lipids are polar molecules with a head made of glycerol and
two tails made of fatty acid chains. The glycerol head is attracted to water whereas the fatty
acid tails are repelled by water. Therefore when lipids are surrounded by water, they tend to

line up with their heads facing the water and tails pointing away. As a result, lipids bead up
when surrounded by water. Organic molecules in the immediate vicinity could be entrained
by the beading process and trapped within a lipid membrane.

Organizing Structures that Approach Cells

1. It's one thing to be able to create amino acids, proteins and other polymers in the
laboratory and encase them in a lipid membrane, but quit another to create an actual living
cell. Living cells have the capability of encoding genetic information and reproducing by
means of RNA and DNA.
2. Several experiments have provided possible insights into how early cells may have
emerged in the primitive earth.
3. We found that when fatty acids are dried and concentrated, and then wetted again, they
spontaneously condense into spherical balls that can trap any DNA present. Therefore, it is
easy to surround DNA with a lipid membrane.
4. Figure 9.4: Sidney Fox and A.I. Oparin were able to experimentally produce small
droplets or spheres of protein called colloidal particles or proteinoids. When colloidal
particles are surrounded by water, they form coacervate drops that can selectively absorb
and release certain compounds in a process similar to bacterial feeding and excretion.
5. These colloidal particles (protocells?) discovered by Fox and Oparin, however, were
incapable of genetic coding and replication and therefore could not be regarded as actual
living organisms.
6. Genetic information in modern cells is carried by the nucleotides RNA and DNA.
Neither have been synthesized in the laboratory, so much speculation occurs as to how they
first came into existence. (a) Some scientists conjecture that proteins formed first and that
the resulting proteinoids collected nucleic acids that could then polymerize into RNA and
DNA. (b) Other scientists argue that nucleic acids formed first, possibly as single-stranded
RNA, and afterwards assembled the protein polymers.

Templates that Could Complex Orgainic Polymers into a Protocell

1. Several theories addressing the polymerization of organic molecules to form protocells

utilize the idea of templates. Templates are surfaces that serve to line up organic molecules
in close order, thus allowing them to bond into more complex molecules.
2. Clays have a structure that can absorb organic molecules and catalyze their breakdown
and synthesis into other products. If clays and associated organic molecules could
somehow become trapped in an organic membrane, then the resulting protocell could have
the makings for early life. Later, newly formed nucleotides could then take over the early
functions of the clay.
3. Zeolites, complex silicate minerals formed as an alteration product of volcanic glass,
also have the complex, repeating structures like clays and can catalyze organic reactions.

Hydrothermal Vents
1. Box 9.1: Perhaps the most fascinating hypothesis proposes that life originated near hot
volcanic vents along deep oceanic spreading centers. Hydrothermal vents possess the
elements and energy source necessary for synthesis of organic molecules. In fact, amino
acids have been detected in hydrothermal vent solutions.
2. The mineral Pyrite, (Fe-Sulfide) which occurs in great abundance around deep-sea
hydrothermal vents, have crystal surfaces that could attract phosphate complexes contained
in many organic molecules, particularly nucleic acids. These organo-phosphate compounds
could line up in close order on the pyrite surface. The crowding together of these molecules
may eventually cause polymerization via organic bonds. Once polymerized, these new
organic complexes could detach from their pyrite template and become free organic
molecules. In this way, nucleic acids and even cell membranes may have evolved.
3. Deep-sea hydrothermal vents are known to be the home of
primitive Archaebacteria which live on H2S, on CH4 or in hot salty springs. The primitive
Archaebacteria may represent the earliest life forms on earth.

Meteorite Bombardment
1. At least 74 amino acids have now been found in chondritic meteorites. In addition, fatty
acids have also been discovered in meteorites leading some scientists to suggest that life on

earth was seeded by organic molecules supplied by bombarding meteorites early in the
history of the earth.

Early Life
Prokaryotes
1. Figure 9.6: The oldest fossils show that life had already split into two groups by 3.5 b.y.
ago. One group, the Eubacteria, include true bacteria plus cyanobacteria. The other group
comprised theArchaebacteria which can live in extremely hot, anoxic water and include
microbes that feed off sulfur compounds or methane.
2. Figure 9.8: The oldest known fossils are found in 3.4 -3.5 b.y. old rocks from
northwestern Australia and South Africa and consist of spherical microfossils arranged in
strings and resembling cyanobacterial filaments. These fossils are thought to represent
primitive cyanobacteria (blue-green algae).
3. Figure 9.7: Cyanobacteria, a member of the kingdom Eubacteria,
are prokaryotes (single celled) whose genetic material is not organized into a descrete
nucleus. Cyanobacteria undergo photosynthesis, a process that converts light, water and
CO2 into complex organic substances. Free oxygen (O 2) is a byproduct.
CO2 + H2O + light = (CH2O) + O2
4. Figure 9.7: Eukaryotes (real algae), which emerged much later at around 1.8 b.y. ago,
are also single celled but have a discrete nucleus.
5. Cyanobacteria form layered mats called stromatolites, which are the only megascopic
fossils in rocks from 3.5 billion to 700 million years in age. Stromatolites can form
cabbage-like domes and a readily recognized in the fossil record.
6. It is envisioned that by 3 billion years ago, the shallow waters of the earth's surface were
filled with stromatolitic, cyanobacterial mats producing abundant free O 2.

Advent of Eukaryotes

1. By 1.8 b.y. ago, atmospheric oxygen released from photosynthesis of cyanobacteria

reached 1% of the present level. Aeraobic bacteria developed while anaerobic bacteria
sought niches within reduced environments.
2. Figure 9.9: The eukaryotes appeared around 1.8 billion years ago as evidenced by the
appearance of acritarchs (organic walled) which may represent the cyst stage of early
eukaryotic algae. Theeukaryotes presently include all single-celled organisms with nuclei
as well as all plants, animals and fungi.
3. Figure 9.10: Eukaryotes may have evolved from earlier colonies of prokaryotes formed
through symbiosis of both archae- and eubacteria beginning around 1.75 billion years ago.

Metazoans
1. Figure 9.13: Life remained fairly simple until about 600-700 m.y. ago when there was a
dramatic change in life forms with the appearance of metazoans.
2. Figure 9.11: Impressions of soft-bodied, 600 m.y. old metazoans (multi-cellular) are
found in Ediacara Hills of Southern Australia. These metazoans included jellyfish,
arthropods (animals with joint legs and segmented bodies) and worm-like creatures up to 1
meter long. Similar fossils are also found in other parts of the world.
3. Between 600 to 550 million years ago, the world was dominated by the Ediacaran,softbodied, forms. These Vendian animals disappeared in the Early Cambrian and were
replaced by small, shelly creatures that thrived in the warm, shallow waters of continental
shelves.

Cambrian Explosion in Shallow Marine Environments

1. Figure 9.13: Trace fossils of burrowing organisms appear in the Early Cambrian.
2. Figure 9.16: The Earliest Cambrian marked the appearence of archaeocyathids (Lower
to Upper Cambrian). Archaeocyathids were colonial organisms resembling modern
sponges in that they were filter feeders and were encased in cone-like structure perforated
with pores. Cambrian reefs were composed of archaeocyathids in addition to stromatolites
formed by cyanobacteria.

3. Figure 9.17: Brachiopods (Cambrian to Recent) are bivalve filter feeders that attach to
the seafloor with a long, fleshy stalk called a pedicle.
4. Trilobites (early arthropods) dominated the Cambrian and Ordovician periods but were
extinct by the end of the Permian. Shells were composed of calcite and organic chitin.
Segments include head (cephalon), body (thorax) and tail (pygidium). Most grazed and
burrowed the seafloor of shelf regions.
5. Molluscs (Cambrian to Recent) were the ancestors of modern clams and snails.
6. Figure 9.18: Echinoderms (Cambrian to Recent) are represented today by starfish, sea
urchins, sand dollars, crinoids and sea cucumbers.
7. Figures 9.19 & 9.20: The Cambrian not only included hard-shelled animals, but also
soft-bodied animals that could only be preserved under exceptional circumstances. The
middle Cambrian Burgess Shale in the Rocky Mountains, British Columbia, preserves an
abundance of unusual soft-bodied animals including arthropods, worm-like animals and
others unlike anything living today.

Possible Reasons for Cambrian Explosion

There are several hypotheses proposed to explain the Cambrian Explosion:
(a) Retreat of Varangian glaciers during a major global warming period.
(b) Atmospheric oxygen reached 6%-10% of present levels which allowed production of
CO32+. The abundance of carbonate allowed organisms to secrete calcitic hard shells.
(c) Rifting of supercontinent created large areas of shallow marine continental shelf.
(d) Rifting and volcanic activity released large amounts of nutrients such as calcium and
phosphate originally trapped in the deep ocean.
(e) Abundant stromatolite mats in the Early Cambrian provided food for primitive
molluscs, leading to almost complete disappearance of these mats during the Cambrian.
(f) Natural selection kicked in, causing rapid diversification of animals and the
development of a food chain.