(3) Unit 7 Topic 13 Packet

Cyanobacteria

One of the oldest known forms of life, dating back to approximately 3.5 billion years ago, significant for their role in oxygen production.

Stanley Miller and Harold Urey Experiment

An experiment conducted to test the hypothesis that organic compounds could be synthesized from inorganic precursors on early Earth.

Organic Molecules

Molecules that contain carbon and are found in living organisms; believed to have originated from inorganic molecules on early Earth.

RNA World Hypothesis

The theory that RNA was the first genetic material, preceding DNA, and crucial for the early stages of life.

Endosymbiotic Theory

The theory that mitochondria and chloroplasts were once independent prokaryotic organisms that were engulfed by primitive eukaryotic cells.

Macromolecules

Large complex molecules essential for life, including proteins, nucleic acids, carbohydrates, and lipids.

Inorganic Molecules

Molecules that do not primarily consist of carbon-hydrogen bonds, believed to have existed in the early Earth's atmosphere.

Meteorites

Space rocks that could have delivered organic molecules to Earth, contributing to the origins of life.

Amino Acids

Building blocks of proteins, formed during the Miller-Urey experiment and thought to be fundamental to the development of life.

Contamination

The introduction of unwanted substances into an experiment, which in the Miller-Urey case could question the validity of their findings.