The Earth and Life Sciences:

The Origin of Life

Life Sciences
Learning Objectives
•The learner is able to explain the evolving concept
of life based on the emerging pieces of evidence
Life Sciences
Origin of Life
Life Sciences
Origin of Life
There were lots of hypotheses regarding the origin
of life on earth. Certain experts suggested that life
came from outer space as spores while another
group explained that life came from a non-cellular
component such as decaying matters like mud.
https://byjus.com/biology/origin-life-overview/
Theories on the
Origin of Life
Theories on the origin of Life
1. Special Creation Theory
Theories on the origin of Life
1. Special Creation Theory
- Many believe that everything in this world
was created by a Supreme being and with Him
nothing is impossible. It was narrated in Genesis
1:1-28, 2:1-4 of Bible
Theories on the origin of Life
2. Spontaneous Generation Theory
Theories on the origin of Life
2. Spontaneous Generation Theory
A. Francesco Redi
- Put a piece of snake meat, a fish, and a slice
of veal in flasks, covered these Muslim cloth and
waited to see it maggots would develop into meat.
That maggots grew only if the flies laid on their eggs
on it.
Theories on the origin of Life
2. Spontaneous Generation Theory
B. Lazzaro Spallanzani
- Observed that meat juices were boiled for
three-quarters of an hour and then sealed, no life
developed.
Theories on the origin of Life
2. Spontaneous Generation Theory
C. Louis Pasteur
- Devised a culture flask which admitted
through a curved tube any bacteria contained in the
air and settled on their own weight in the curve of
tube. No life appeared in the flask
Theories on the origin of Life
3. Biogenetic Theory
Theories on the origin of Life
3. Biogenetic Theory
- The invention of the microscope and
advances in science made it clear that living things
created other living things. When the egg and the
sperm cell unite, they form a zygote. This zygote
would then develop into an organism.
Microorganisms like bacteria can give rise to many
more bacteria.
Theories on the origin of Life
4. Beneath the Ice Theory
Theories on the origin of Life
4. Beneath the Ice Theory
- Billion years ago, Earth’s oceans were
covered with ice. This ice may have been hundreds
of meters thick mainly due to the sun being much
less fierce than it is nowadays. This theory contends
that ice may have protected the compounds,
allowing them to interact and thereby, creating life.
Theories on the origin of Life
5. Electric Spark
Theories on the origin of Life
5. Electric Spark
- It has been proven that electricity can
produce simple sugars and amino acids from simple
elements in the atmosphere. This leads to the
theory that lightning may have been responsible for
the origins of life, primarily by striking through rich
volcanic clouds.
Theories on the origin of Life
6. Panspermia (Cosmozoic Theory)
Theories on the origin of Life
6. Panspermia (Cosmozoic Theory)
- Panspermia is the proposal that life on Earth
began from rocks, and other debris from impacts, in
the form of highly resistant spores (cozmozoa) such
as meteorite
Theories on the origin of Life
7. Submarine Hydrothermal Vents
Theories on the origin of Life
7. Submarine Hydrothermal Vents
- Submarine hydrothermal vents contain vast
and diverse ecosystems. The environment filled with
reactive gases and catalysts, create a habitat
teeming with life.
Theories on the origin of Life
7. Hylomorphism
Theories on the origin of Life
7. Hylomorphism
- Everything in the universe is composed of
matter with soul means life. There are three kinds of
soul: vegetative, animal and rational soul
Theories on the origin of Life
8. Endosymbiotic Theory
Theories on the origin of Life
8. Endosymbiotic Theory
- Some of the prokaryotes entered the
ancestral eukaryotes and dwell inside and became a
part of the eukaryotic cell
Theories on the origin of Life
9. Evolution Theory
Theories on the origin of Life
9. Evolution Theory
- All species of organisms arise and develop
through the natural selection of small, inherited
variations that increase the individual's ability to
compete, survive, and reproduce.