The Nature of Life on Earth

(Chapter 5)

Nature of Life
One of the first problems to tackle in
the search for life somewhere other
than Earth
WHAT IS LIFE?
This question has philosophical,
religious and scientific aspects, but
for the purpose of this course we will
stick to the science.
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Restricting the Search

At the outset we need to set
parameters to have a reasonable goal.
In this course we will focus on the
nature of life SIMILAR TO OUR OWN
That is not to say other possibilities
dont exist, but there is a limit to how to
deal with this problem. It is easier to
start with the familiar.
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Six Key Properties

Even for life on Earth this is a difficult
definition to agree on.
What distinguishes a car from a cat for
example?
We will use 6 key properties that life as
we understand it should exhibit.
Note: each are a necessary condition
for life but not a sufficient condition for
life.

1. Order or Structure
This is the pattern and structure by
which organisms are put together.
Organisms of the same type will have
the same basic pattern. The variation
between organisms will result in
different structures, but there must be
some basic organization present.
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2. Reproduction
Organisms can produce a copy of
themselves - not necessarily identical,
but with most of the same
characteristics, and are able to
produce yet further generations.
Living organisms can be the product of
reproduction even if they themselves
cannot reproduce. (eg A mule is
sterile but the result of reproduction
from a horse and a donkey.)
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Reproduction:
borderline cases?
Viruses cannot reproduce by
themselves. They can infect other
organisms and generate reproduction
though.
Prions are abnormal forms of proteins
that cause normal proteins to become
abnormal. They reproduce by
causing alterations of other material.
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3. Growth and Development

Organisms have the ability to grow
and to develop from a less
organized state or simply to
increase in size or both.
Traits passed on to an organism
from its parents is termed heredity.
The heredity traits are carried by the
DNA molecule for life on Earth.
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4. Energy utilization
Any organism will need a source of
energy to maintain its structure and
order and thus to reproduce and
grow. There must be some
mechanism by which an organism
can utilize a source of energy.
Without energy, a system moves
towards disorder.
Cars use gasoline but are not alive.
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5. Response to Environment
Environments are always changing.
This means organisms must have the
ability to change and adapt as well.
(This is on an individual level like
growing a warmer fur coat for winter,
or eyes contracting and expanding
with changing light levels)
A thermostat responds to its
environment but is not alive!
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6. Evolution
This involves both the ability to
reproduce and respond to the
environment - it is the change in the
genetic make up of an individual
(off-spring) from its parents.
These changes can result in a
survival advantage, so that
eventually the new characteristic
becomes dominant.

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Definitions
Science likes classification, order that
allows us to categorize observations.
A species (specific) is a group of
organisms with common genetic
characteristics. Genetically distinct.
Genus (generic) species: eg Homo
sapiens (humans), Equus caballus
(horses), Equus asinus (donkeys)
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Evolution
Strictly speaking, evolution means
change with time
The Greek Anaximander suggested
2500 years ago that life originated in
water and evolved from simple to
complex forms.
Aristotles view, that became
entrenched for 2,000+ years was that
species were fixed and independent
and do not evolve (do not change)

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Evolution and fossils

In the 1800s, Jean Lamarck suggested
that fossils and living organisms were
related by an evolutionary process. Life
adapted to its environment to perform
successfully.
While in hindsight Lamarck was on the
right track, it was left to Charles Darwin
to both postulate and find evidence for
the Theory of Evolution.
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Charles Darwin
(1809--1882).
The voyage of
the HMS
Beagle led to
the Theory of
Evolution and
evidence to
support the
theory.

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Theory of Evolution:
Natural Selection
Overproduction and competition for
survival: a given population in a confined
area has limited resources to survive.
Individual variation: No 2 individuals in a
population are identical but rather vary
in their traits. Thus some individuals
compete more effectively.
Inescapable conclusion: unequal
reproductive success: the best adapted
to survive, proliferate.
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Scientific theories need

evidence
At the Galapagos islands, differing
islands have finch (bird) populations
that have obviously adapted to the
local environments.
Similar relationships seen between
fossils in certain areas/regions and
present day variants of the species.
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Scientific theories need

evidence
Obviously Evolution at work in the
Galapagos: adaptation for the various
forms of life to the local environment
to grow and develop.

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Finch populations

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Artificial selection

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The mechanism of evolution

Evolution by natural selection means
that species change and adapt by
passing along hereditary traits from
one generation to another.
This is accomplished at the molecular
level by the DNA (deoxyribonucleic
acid) molecule.
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A definition of life
An entity (organism) that can
reproduce and evolve through natural
selection
Where does chemical evolution stop
and biological evolution start?
By no means a perfect and all
encompassing definition but likely
shared by all forms of life, both
terrestrial and extraterrestrial!

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Cells: lifes basic building block

Cells are common to all forms of life, single
celled or multi-cellular. A membrane
encapsulates the inside cell material.
Cells pass on hereditary information via
DNA molecules.
All life on Earth shares a common ancestry
having evolved from a common origin.

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Chemical
composition
Life is made up of four
main elements (and
many other trace
materials)
Carbon (C), Hydrogen
(H), Oxygen (O) and
Nitrogen (N): ~96%
Most of the oxygen and
hydrogen in us is in the
form of water (H2O)
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Water
Water is used in many ways by the
organism. For example, plants use it
in the photosynthesis process, and it
is used in other chemical processes
One of the most important uses is as
a solvent. This includes it working as
a transport mechanism to distribute
material throughout an organism
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Water

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Water
Water is a polar molecule. This
means one side (hydrogen) is slightly
positive in charge, while the other
side (near the oxygen) is slightly
negative in charge.
This is part of what makes it a good
solvent.
The polarity arises from the way the
covalent bond acts in the molecule.

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Water

http://www.aquadyntech.com/h2omolec
ule.jpg

This image
shows the
uneven
distribution of
charge. The red
indicates a
negative charge,
while green is
positive.
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7 Important Properties
1. Water is very abundant. There is
lots of H and lots of O in the
universe so there is lots of water.
2. Water is very good at dissolving
material so it can carry a lot of
molecules of many different types.
3. Water has a high heat capacity and
a high vapourization energy. This is
important because cells use these
properties to regulate temperature.

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7 Important Properties
4. Water has a high surface tension.
This helps keep a cell together, and
pushes the elements together in the
first place
5. Water breaks down when exposed
to UV, and the O then forms ozone,
so it can protect itself against UV.
(this is important UV rays destroy
organic compounds)

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7 Important Properties
6. Water floats when it freezes ice
insulates the water below it from
freezing so lifeforms always have
liquid water in which ti survive..
7. Water is a liquid for a 100 degree
Celsius temperature range (which is
larger than other materials we might
consider as a solvent).
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Carbon
Humans are referred to as carbon
based life, since the complex
molecules we use to structure
ourselves are based on carbon
compounds and the versatility of
carbon bonding.
Organic chemistry is the chemistry
of life and looks at the behaviour of
compounds that have as their basic
building blocks C and H
(hydrocarbons if only C and H).

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Why Carbon?
Carbon can bond to 4 other atoms.
This allows it to create very large and
very complex 3 dimensional structures.
This is what leads to the huge diversity
of compounds that make us up
Bonds are strong enough to hold
together well, but weak enough to
break apart and reform into other
chemicals
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Carbon bonding
(versatile) with
long chains,
branches, rings,
single and
double bonds,
etc.
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Silicon: like Carbon?

Silicon is another remote possibility for
life as it can also form 4 bonds
BUT silicon bonds VERY strongly to
oxygen (this is what rock is) and weakly
to other chemicals (like H). Long chain,
more complex molecules not possible.
Silicon does not form double bonds and
cannot form a gas (SiO2 versus CO2).
Silicon 1,000 more abundant on Earth
than carbon yet carbon based life
exists.
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Other Chemicals
There are many other elements (about
20) that combine with C, H, N, O in
DNA and thus in cells. Calcium,
phosphorous, potassium and sulphur
the most common (and important). that
are used in much smaller amounts but
are also crucial to life.
O is also very commonly part of organic
chemicals as well as being present in
water. O is a very reactive chemical
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which makes it useful in energy transfer.

Compounds
Compounds are the joining of simple
atoms into larger structures
The carbon compound building blocks
and water (that life needs) turn out to
very common in the universe
Found in asteroids, comets, nebulae,
planetary atmospheres, on and in
planets and moons
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Compounds
There are a number of different types
of compounds that make up life (four
of these are carbon based)
Carbohydrates
Lipids (which includes fats)
Proteins (made of amino acids)
Nucleic Acids
Water (already discussed)

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Carbohydrates
These are mostly simple sugars like
glucose (C6H12O6) used by cells for
energy (and energy storage).
Additionally they can be used to
create structure as well (like cellulose
(C6H10O5)n in plants).

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Lipids
Lipids in the form of fats also store energy.
Their carbon arrangement (structures)
makes them non-soluble in water.
Spontaneously form membranes in water
and thus in essence become the
boundaries for chemical factories. Likely
essential in the early stages of the
formation of life on Earth.
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Proteins
Work-horses of cells!
Some proteins are structural elements,
while others are enzymes (many other
uses)
Enzymes are molecules that catalyze
chemical reactions in cells, allowing
certain biochemical reactions to occur
(accelerate) including the copying of
DNA. The enzymes remain unchanged.
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An amino group: NH(1 or 2) connected

to a carbon atom.
An amino acid
has an amino
group plus a
carboxyl group
(C0OH)
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Basic Amino Acid Structure

The R
element is
what differs
between
amino acids,
the other
elements
are always
present
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Proteins
Arise from the joining together of long
chains of ~20 basic amino acids.
70 amino acids known but only 20
utilised by life (common ancestry?).
Amino acids have a property of
handedness, mirror images of the
same molecular structure.
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Handedness (mirror images)

(stereoisomers)

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Proteins
Life on Earth only uses the L
arrangement. There doesnt seem to
be any reason this is just how
things fell out.
Both L and R forms are found in
nature. Inorganic compounds have a
mix of both handedness.
Difference is detectable using
polarised light.

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Nucleic acids
DNA (deoxyribonucleic acid) is the
basic hereditary information written in
cells and transmitted from one cell to
another in reproduction.
RNA (ribonucleic acid) helps carry out
the instructions in the DNA.
All life on Earth uses the DNA and
RNA molecules and presumably any
life would need these molecules or
their equivalent.

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Tree of Life (on Earth) based on DNA

(3 Domains)

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Tree of Life
We are a small component of the Tree
(animals, planets, fungii small twigs)
Immense micro-biological diversity. 5,000
times more massive bacteria compared to
humans.
The further from the root the more
diverse the genetic material.

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Metabolism
Metabolic processes are chemical
reactions that occur within cells,
providing energy and nutrients.
Raw materials containing carbon, etc.,
are processed within the cell into new,
complex molecules.
A source of energy is needed to ensure
that such metabolic processes occur.
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ATP & ADP

Every cell stores and releases the
molecule ATP (adenosine
triphosphate) for energy in the
chemical manufacturing processes.
Recyclable in that when ATP is used,
it deposits ADP (adenosine
diphosphate) that can easily be
converted back into ATP.
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Lifes Basic Requirements

Chemicals (to supply the building
blocks such as carbon)
Energy (to power the system and help
produce the ATP for cells)
Genetic code (instructions on how to
assemble the system provided by the
DNA molecules)
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Raw Material (Carbon) Sources

Autotrophs (self feeding) can
extract carbon from their
environment from non-biological or
inorganic origins.
Heterotrophs (others to feed) can
only obtain carbon from the stored
organic sources of other organisms.
Simply put, they eat!
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Energy
Most of life on Earth is powered by
photosynthesis. This uses the light of
the Sun as an energy source. (Photo-)
Is this the only way to extract energy
from the environment? NO, but on
Earth it is the most abundant.
Chemical energy from organic or
inorganic sources can power cells.
(Chemo-)
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Metabolic Classification of
Living Organisms
Metabolic
Classification
Photoautotroph
Chemoautotroph
Photoheterotroph
Chemoheterotroph

Carbon
source
Carbon
dioxide
Carbon
dioxide
Organic
compounds
Organic
compounds

Energy
source
Sunlight

Examples

Inorganic
compounds
Sunlight

Bacteria
(extremophiles)
Bacteria

Organic
compounds

Animals (us!)

Plants

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Photosynthesis
This process takes
water and carbon
dioxide and uses the
energy from light
(essentially storing
that energy as ATP)
to create glucose
with oxygen as a byhttp://www.biology4kids.com/files/art/plant_ph
product
otosynth1.gif

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Photosynthesis
Life then liberates this energy
(creates ADP) by the creation of
glucose
This process can either use oxygen
or not (aerobic vs. anaerobic
processes).
When oxygen is used this process is
significantly more efficient.
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Other Energy sources

What was the source of early energy on
Earth?
Photosynthesis is a complex chemical
process, that must have evolved over time.
Early sources of energy must have been
either chemicals that were available,
lightning strikes, comet impacts, volcanic
vents, etc., that would have helped create
the first organic molecules.
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DNA
All life on Earth uses the same basic set
of instructions to build the cells and other
structures that make us up. The
instructions are carried on the DNA (and
in some primitive organisms RNA)
The DNA molecule contains a structure
(pattern) of proteins, a code for linking
amino acids into a protein chain.
DNA is arranged as a double helix. 67

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DNA
DNA uses a set of what we call base
pairs. The possible bases are
A(denine), T(hymine), G(uanine),
(these are double rings of carbon) and
C(ytosine) (single rings).
In the double helix, A will be on one
side and always connects to a T on
the other, while C will always connect
to G.

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DNA
We combine these letters into sets of
three (a genetic word). This means
there are 64 possibilities (4x4x4), so for
most of the (20) amino acids
associated with life, there is actually
more than one word that refers to
each acid.
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DNA
For a set of instructions you need
enough code in order to give a name
to every amino acid you will use (recall
life uses 20 amino acids). As well you
need a word for stop, so the
mechanisms know when the protein is
finished. This means at a minimum,
you need to have at least 21 words in
your code.

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DNA words and the amino acids

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DNA reading the information

To use the instructions on the DNA, an
RNA copy of one side of a DNA strand
is made. RNA is similar to DNA, but is
only a single strand and uses U(racil) in
the place of T(hymine). (Thus its bases
are A, C, G, U.) It is this RNA (this
particular type is called messenger or
mRNA) which is read by other enzymes
to create a protein.
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DNA reproduction (replication)

As a result of the specificity of base pair
couplings, when the DNA unzips you
have complimentary strands that result in
the duplication of the DNA molecule
(heredity information (traits) pass on!).

74

Genes
A gene is the basic functional unit of
an organisms heredity (traits).
A gene consists of a sequence of DNA
bases that provide the instructions for
a particular function in a cell.
The total DNA sequence of an
organism contains genes (~5%) and
noncoding DNA (95%)
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Genome
Within the nucleus of a cell can be
found chromosomes, long coiled
strands of DNA with the genes and
noncoding DNA attached to the
strands.
An organisms genome is the
complete collection of DNA, both
genes and noncoding DNA found on
all chromosomes.

76

For humans, our

genome has
20,000+ genes
and 3 billion+
DNA bases.
Not the most
complex nor the
simplest of
structures for an
organism.
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DNA Changes - mutation

A mutation occurs when there is a
change to the base sequence in the
organisms DNA.
Some causes of this can be a
replication error, or a change caused
by environmental influences, such as
the action of viruses, radiation, etc.
Such errors are very rare, 1 in a billion!
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Mutations
Changes to the DNA can result in
changes in the physical
characteristics. Many errors end up
having no effect.
Mutations can be positive, negative or
neutral when you are talking about
the effects on an organism.
But this aspect is subjective and
depends very much on the
environment an organism is in.

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DNA mutation: 1 base different!

80

DNA and evolution

Evolution is the process whereby over
time organisms change and the
mutations result in a survival benefit
which means the organism with the
change reproduces more successfully.

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Extremophiles
While life on Earth shares a great
commonality (DNA structures), all life
does not look human (remember the
Tree of Life).
Organisms that survive (thrive) in
extreme environmental conditions of
any kind are called extremophiles.
Hot, cold, dry, acidic, radioactive, etc.
environments where humans could
not survive.

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Extreme
environments

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Examples of extremophiles

Thermophiles (lovers of heat)

Psychrophiles (lovers of cold)
Acidophiles (acid-loving)
Barophiles (pressure-loving)
Halophiles (salt-loving)
Xerophiles (dry-loving)
Anaerobes (oxygen-hating)
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Final thought
Given the wide array of life present on
Earth (particularly bacterial forms of
life) and the wide environmental
conditions in which life survives, it
seems reasonable to assume that life
could similarly exist on other planets,
not just exo-Earths.
Whether this life is intelligent or
even macroscopic is a very different
question.

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