The Miller-Urey Experiment 1

Abstract

The question of the early beginning of life has been a bone of contention in history. Experiments

in chemistry laboratories have attempted to provide answers to this most important issue

beginning with the Oparin and Haldane theory of evolution. Later, after Oparin and Haldane’s

theory, Miller and his supervisor Urey successfully synthesized complex biomolecules using

simple inorganic elements thought to be present during the primordial earth’s conditions (Miller

& Urey, 1959). This made a breakthrough in the understanding of the origin of life. This paper

reports Miller-Urey experiment and identifies the setup that was used. The paper gives

significance to the discussion on the results obtained and the conclusions made after the

experiment and states the relevance of the experiment. A discussion on the likelihood of life

existing outside the planet Earth makes the conclusion of the paper.

Introduction

The hypothetical primitive Earth’s conditions were first simulated in the Miller-Urey experiment.

Working at the University of Chicago in 1953, Stanley Miller and his supervisor, Harold Urey

attempted to explain that the conditions which existed in primitive earth’s atmosphere were

permissive for building up complex biochemical molecules such as amino acids from much

simpler inorganic elements (Miller & Urey, 1959).

Experimental Setup

In their experiment, Miller and Urey introduced the molecules they thought to have existed in the

primitive Earth’s atmosphere into a vacuumed flask. They introduced ammonia (NH3), methane

(CH3), hydrogen (H2) and water (H2O) into a flask in an attempt to synthesize organic

compounds in prebiotic atmosphere-like conditions.

Fig 1.1 The Setup used in Miller-Urey Experiment

 The Miller-Urey Experiment 2

Tungsten electrodes

Flask

Condenser

Trap

Fig 1.1 The setup used in the Miller-Urey Experiment. The diagram shows the
arrangement of apparatus used to produce complex macromolecules from simple
inorganic molecules by passing an electric current through the tungsten electrodes (The
Internet Encyclopedia of Science)
Urey simulated the constant discharges from lightening as it was in the primitive Earth’s

conditions by supplying a stream of electric current of 60,000 volts (Miller & Urey, 1959). A

simplified setup done by Miller and Urey is as shown above.

The Results and the Conclusions

After a few days, Miller saw an interesting change in the content of the flask. The flask

contained rich organic compounds such as amino acids which are critical for supporting life on

Earth (Miller & Urey, 1959). To their surprise, the methane and ammonia had all been reduced

to nitrogen (N2) and carbon monoxide (CO). Miller went further to apply methods in

chromatography and confirmed the presence of hydroxyl acids, 25 different amino acids, fatty

acids and other amide products in the flask. Miller and Urey then made a conclusion that the

primitive Earth’s conditions were hospitable for supporting early life (Miller & Urey, 1959).

Significance of Miller-Urey Experiment

 The Miller-Urey Experiment 3

The Miller-Urey experiment proved that the conditions that existed in prebiotic environment of

the early Earth were capable of producing complex biochemical molecules necessary for early

life beginning (Miller & Urey, 1959). This claim was first made by Oparin and Haldane in the

theory of the origin of life on earth and the evolution of primitive chemicals. However, critics

have always argued that Miller and Urey never made efforts to explain a detailed origin of life as

did Francis Crick, James Watson, Francis Rosalind and Wilkins in the same year 1953 in their

discovery of the double helical structure of the deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA).

The Miller-Urey experiment forms the basis of our understanding that the complex life is made

up of simpler elements, hydrogen, ammonia and methane (Miller & Urey, 1959). This is repeated

in the realization that the DNA is made up of bases, guanine, cytosine, thymine and adenine

which have carbon, nitrogen, hydrogen and oxygen as the building elements of the bases. The

Miller-Urey experiment has inspired novel scientific inquiries into the prebiotic chemistry and

has been of significant influence in the explanation of the origins of life.

Evidence of Life Elsewhere, Outside the Planet Earth

There seems to be traces of life on the planet Mars. Strains of the simple elements used during

the Miller-Urey experiment have been observed on the planet Mars (Miller & Urey, 1959). In

addition, comets as well as other bodies in space such as meteorites are believed to have complex

carbon macromolecules such as those observed in Murchison, a meteorite that fell on September

28, 1969 near Murchison in Australia. Murchison contained more than 90 amino acids of which

19 amino acids are found on the planet Earth. There is significant evidence that the early Earth

was highly bombarded by a number of comets which supplied the complex organic compounds

(Miller & Urey, 1959). This implies that there is a possibility of life outside the planet Earth.
 The Miller-Urey Experiment 4

Reference:

Miller, S. L & Urey, H. C (1959). Organic compounds synthesis on the primitive Earth.

Science. 130 (3370): 245-251