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Origins of Life
● Earth formed approximately 4.6 billion years ago
(bya)
○ Early Earth was not suitable for life until 3.9 bya
■ Earliest fossil evidence is 3.5 bya
● Cyanobacteria

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 How Did Life Arise?
● Early Earth contained inorganic molecules
○ These could have synthesized organic
molecules due to free energy and abundant
oxygen
■ Organic molecules could have also been
transported to Earth via meteorites or other
celestial events

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 Experimental Data
● Oparin and Haldane
hypothesized that early
Earth was primarily
composed of hydrogen,
methane, ammonia and
water
○ Stanley Miller and
Harold Urey tested the
hypothesis in their lab
■ They found organic
compounds and
amino acids formed
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 Experimental Data
● Miller and Urey
hypothesized that the
organic molecules that
formed served as the
building blocks for
macromolecules

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 RNA World Hypothesis
● RNA World Hypothesis: proposes that RNA
could have been the earliest genetic material
○ Helps to explain the pre-cellular stage of life

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 Review
Think back to when we covered the endosymbiont
theory. What was that? How does it relate to this
topic of the origins of life?

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