Classical Experiments That Lead To The Discovery of First Life

Classical Experiments
that Lead to the

Discovery of First Life
Leo M. Afable
T – III(SNHS – SHS)
Saturday, September 9, 202 Department of Education Region VIII 1
3
Objective:
At the end of this lesson, you

should be able to describe
classic experiments that
model conditions which may
have enabled the first forms
of life to evolve.
• what are the theories on the
origin of life?
• What was the first life form that
ever evolved?
• What is the difference between a
prokaryotic cell and eukaryotic
cell?
• How did life begin on Earth?
3
• About 4.6 billion years ago, the
Earth began to exist. The
existence of life, as believed by
many scientists, started from
the moment the Earth’s
environment became stable to
support life.
3
• Several theories were proposed
to explain life’s origin. One of
these theories is the primordial
soup theory proposed
by Alexander Oparin and John
Haldane
• What is explained in this
theory?
3
Experiments:
Electrical Discharge Experiment
Stanley Miller and Harold Urey verified
the primordial soup theory by simulating
the formation of organic molecules on the
early Earth. They confined methane,
ammonia, water, and hydrogen in a closed
system and applied continuous electrical
sparks to trigger the formation of the
building blocks of life.

3
Experiments:
After a day, they observed a

change of color in the
solution.
After a week, the solution
was tested, and they found
out that several amino acids
were produced.
3
3
• The purpose of this experiment
was not to try and produce
amino acids, rather, its purpose
was to explore the conditions of
the early Earth and what the
naturally occurring results would
be.

3
Thermal Synthesis
•Sidney Fox demonstrated
in his experiment the origin
of life using a specific
mixture of pure, dry amino
acids.

3
Thermal Synthesis
•In his experiment, after

heating the mixture, an
aqueous solution was
formed and cooled into
microscopic globules
called protenoid
microspheres.
3
Thermal Synthesis
•The globules looked like

coccoid bacteria and
seemed to be budding,
which is a form of
reproduction in some
microorganisms.
3
3
• He claimed that the protenoid
microspheres
constituted protocells – almost true
cells, and multiplied through division
like true cells.
• He believed that these cells were the
link between the primordial
environment and the true living cells.

3
The Protocell Experiment
• Jack Szostak built lipid sacs
made in fatty acids and
a replicase – an RNA
molecule that catalyzes its
own replication, in the test
tube.

3
•He found out that lipid sacs
with more RNA grew faster.
He suggested that such
test tube evolution was
possible.

3
•The results suggested that
the early forms of life with
just a single gene, an RNA
gene, could have
undergone a Darwinian
evolution
3
• He then thought that the simplest
possible living cells or protocells
just required two components to
be formed: a nucleic acid
genome to transmit the genetic
information and a lipid sac which
encapsulated the genome and let
itself grow and divide
3
What do you think?
• Which of the three experiments is
the most plausible in determining
the origin of life? Why?
• What are the different experiments
conducted by several scientists
that modeled conditions which
may have enabled the first life
forms to evolve
3
Try it!
• Try to leave a piece of bread on

the table for two to three weeks.
What do you think will happen to
it? How will you relate this to the
experiments about the origin of
life?

3
Key Points
• One of the theories about the early forms of life is

the primordial soup theory proposed by Alexander
Oparin and John Haldane.
• Several scientists conducted different experiments that modeled
conditions which may have enabled the first life forms to evolve;
these include Electrical Discharge Experiment, Thermal
Synthesis, and The Protocell Experiment.
• Stanley Miller and Harold Urey verified the primordial soup
theory by simulating the formation of organic molecules on the
early Earth.
• Sidney Fox demonstrated in his experiment the origin of life
using a specific mixture of pure, dry amino acids.
• Jack Szostak made protocells from a lipid sac and a replicase –
an RNA molecule that catalyzes its own replication.

3

Classical Experiments That Lead To The Discovery of First Life

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

You might also like

Classical Experiments That Lead To The Discovery of First Life

Uploaded by

Document Information

Original Title

Copyright

Available Formats

Share this document

Share or Embed Document

Sharing Options

Did you find this document useful?

Is this content inappropriate?

Copyright:

Available Formats

Classical Experiments That Lead To The Discovery of First Life

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

Classical Experiments

that Lead to the

At the end of this lesson, you

Saturday, September 9, 202 Department of Education Region VIII 6

After a day, they observed a

Saturday, September 9, 202 Department of Education Region VIII 9

Saturday, September 9, 202 Department of Education Region VIII 10

•In his experiment, after

•The globules looked like

Saturday, September 9, 202 Department of Education Region VIII 14

Saturday, September 9, 202 Department of Education Region VIII 15

Saturday, September 9, 202 Department of Education Region VIII 16

• Try to leave a piece of bread on

Saturday, September 9, 202 Department of Education Region VIII 20

• One of the theories about the early forms of life is

Saturday, September 9, 202 Department of Education Region VIII 21

You might also like