Conditions on Early Earth

One word … extreme!

● Asteroids and comets brought water
● Methane and ammonia, from asteroids and volcanic
activity, formed the majority of the atmosphere
● No free oxygen (O) so no ozone (O3)
● Extreme weather events due to lower magnetic field
which caused higher solar and cosmic radiation to be
reaching the surface
● Carbon dioxide and water vapour were at a higher
concentration than today

It is thought that the first life evolved in the

“primordial soup” between 3.5 and 3.9 billion years
ago
What is Life?
Video discussing the
NASA definition of life
as, “a self-sustaining
chemical system
capable of Darwinian
evolution.”

According to this
definition of life,
cellular structure is
not a requirement!
Origins of Life
Origins of cells
Guiding questions
- What plausible hypotheses could account for the origin of
life?
- What intermediate stages could there have been between
non-living matter and the first living cells??

Cell theory:
- All living things are made of cells
- Cells divide to give rise to other cells
- Cells are the most basic unit of life

If cells only originate from other cells dividing, how did the first
cell come to be?
Cells can only be formed by
division of pre-existing
cells:
● Cells multiply through division
● Mitosis results in genetically
identical diploid daughter cells
● Meiosis generates haploid
gametes (sex cells)

4-cell stage of a sea biscuit by Bruno Vellutini on Flickr

(CC) http://flic.kr/p/daWnnS
 Pasteur disproves the prevailing theory of “spontaneous
generation” with his swan-neck flask experiments.

1864 Populations need to be seeded by existing populations: cells come

only from pre-existing cells.
What was necessary for the evolution of the
first cells?
● Catalysis
● Self-replication of molecules
● Self-assembly and the
emergence of compartmentalisation

This is an example of a theory that does not have evidence

to support it.
- We do not have fossils of the first cells
- We cannot replicate the exact conditions of prebiotic
Earth
Origins of the First Cells

● Cells must have

developed from non-living
materials
● It would not have
happened in one step, it
is much more likely that
small changes over a very
long period of time led to
cells forming
 Pre-Biotic Earth
There is no “standard model” of the
origin of life and there are
challenges in explaining the
spontaneous origin of cells.
Oparin and Haldane independently
proposed nearly identical
hypotheses for the steps of how life
could have originated on Earth:

1. Formation of simple organic molecules

from inorganic compounds
2. Assembly of carbon compounds into
polymers
3. The formation of a polymer that can self
replicate (enabling inheritance and
variation)
4. Packaging of molecules into
compartments with an internal
chemistry different from the
surroundings
Hypothesized processes needed for the spontaneous origin of cells on Earth.

The synthesis of The assembly of The formation of Packaging of

simple organic these organic a polymer that molecules into
molecules from molecules into can self replicate membranes with
inorganic polymers. (enabling an internal
compounds. inheritance). chemistry different
from the
surroundings.
Inorganic

H20 CO2 NH3

Self-Replication
N2 Polymerization
H2 CH4
Organic

Amino Acid
Nitrogenous
Base

Fatty Acid
Simple Sugar
INORGANIC MOLECULES ORGANIC MOLECULES
● Do not have both carbon and hydrogen
within the same molecule ● Contain carbon and hydrogen

● Usually have a small number of atoms ● Can be large molecules with many atoms

● Often associated with non-living matter ● Usually associated with living organism

Simple organic molecules

form from inorganic Amino Acid
Nitrogenous
H2 0 CO2 precursors is the first step in Base
Oparin-Haldane origin of life.

H2 N2 NH3
Monosaccharid Fatty Acid
es
Prebiotic Formation of Carbon Compounds

Converting simple molecules Today, most living things get the energy to
into complex organic synthesize molecules by oxidizing nutrients
molecules requires an input in cellular respiration or directly from the
of energy. sun by photosynthesis. But, before there
was life, how did organic molecules
form from inorganic precursors?
 Prebiotic Formation of Carbon Compounds

Oparin and Haldane hypothesized that early Earth provided the conditions
necessary for the formation of carbon compounds. These conditions do not
exist on Earth today.
The molecules thought to be In such a reducing atmosphere,
present in the early Earth energy from volcanic eruptions and
atmosphere were chemically lightning can catalyze the creation
reducing in nature and easily of certain basic small molecules of
transfer electrons. life, like amino acids.
Prebiotic Formation of Carbon Compounds

Once formed, small organic molecules may have been able to spontaneously
form polymers on early Earth. There is evidence that:

● Amino acids can

spontaneously link together to
form proteins.
● Fatty acids can fatty acids
could have been concentrated
sufficiently to assemble into
membranes.
● RNA nucleotides can link
together when exposed to a
catalyst found in clay or in
water.
Evaluating the Miller-Urey experiment

https://www.britannica.com/science/Miller-Ure
y-experiment

1. Outline the purpose of this experiment.

2. Identify the hypothesis that the evidence
from this experiment is used for?
3. Explain how their experimental design
simulated conditions on “Early Earth” 3.5
billion years ago
4. List the chemicals that Miller identified in
the solution.
5. This experiment was replicated by Miller
and other scientists, discuss the
importance of replicating experiments
6. Evaluate the evidence from Miller’s
experiment to support the formation of
polymers from simple organic molecules
Miller and Urey tried to recreate conditions of early Earth in the lab in 1953
They were trying to demonstrate ‘chemical evolution’, the formation of more complex
molecules.
They combined the molecules in a
closed glass vessel (simulated
atmosphere), they heated the water
(simulated volcanic activity) and
sparked electricity through the gases
(simulated lightning)

After a week they found

thirteen of the twenty
naturally occurring amino
acids

Around 15% of the carbon was

now in organic compounds
Assembly of these organic molecules into
polymers:

Miller and Urey’s experiments allowed for the

formation of amino acids, but the conditions used
also tended to hydrolyse bonds preventing polymers
forming.

Deep-sea hydrothermal vents

• Fissures in a planet's surface from which
geothermally heated water issues. Vents are
commonly found near in volcanically active
areas)
• Along with heat energy the vents issue a ready
supply of reduced inorganic chemicals
• Vents provide the right conditions and chemicals
to allow organic polymers to arise.
 Formation of polymers that can self-replicate (enabling inheritance)

• DNA though very stable and effective at

storing information is not able to self-
replicate – enzymes are required

• However RNA can both store information

and self-replicate - it can catalyse the
formation of copies of itself.

http://exploringorigins.org/resources.html
• Ribozymes in ribosomes RNA is found in the
catalytic site and plays a role in peptide bond
formation
Formation of membranes to package the organic molecules

Experiments have shown that

phospholipids naturally assemble
into bilayers, if conditions are
correct.

Formation of the bilayer creates an

isolated internal environment.
The formation of an internal
environment means that optimal
conditions, e.g. for replication or
catalysis can be maintained.
Last Universal Common Ancestor

All cells on Earth

share characteristics,
including a genetic
code that were
inherited from a
common ancestral
population of cells.
This cell type is
called “LUCA” the All organisms
are classified
last universal into three
domains;
common ancestor of bacteria,
life on Earth. archaea and
eukarya
(A3.2.9).
Cladograms are tree
diagrams that show
the most probable
sequence of
divergence between
groups of organisms
that have evolved
from a common
ancestor
LUCA - The Last Common Universal
Ancestor
Can you remember any of the evidence for all species having
evolved from a common ancestor?

There may have been other forms of life on Earth when the
LUCA was present, can you suggest why these may not have
survived and led to the evolution of another branch of life?
Last Universal Common Ancestor
Genes are adapted to an organism’s
environment. So the genes likely to
have been present in LUCA are a clue
about where and how LUCA lived.
The 355 genes indicate that LUCA:
● was an obligate anaerobe (did not use
oxygen)
● was a chemoautotroph, obtaining
energy from hydrogen and converting
carbon dioxide and nitrogen into
essential organic compounds
● was able to live in extreme heat

These conditions are found in deep hydrothermal sea vents, the gassy,
metal-laden, intensely hot plumes caused by seawater interacting with
magma erupting through the ocean floor.