Origins of Life - Biology 30

Flashcards about the origins of life, covering abiogenesis, the heterotroph hypothesis, the Miller-Urey experiment, Pasteur's experiment, the endosymbiont hypothesis and other related topics.

Abiogenesis

The theory that living cells arose from non-living matter through a series of key stages.

Reducing Atmosphere

The hypothesis that the initial formation of primitive living structures requires a specific supporting chemical environment, such as a reducing atmosphere.

Chemical Soup Locations

Locations that may have provided suitable conditions for the formation of a concentrated chemical soup, including volcanoes, hydrothermal vents, shorelines, and outer space.

Oparin and Haldane's Hypothesis

Proposed key steps in the origin of life, including the formation of simple organic molecules, assembly into polymers, self-replication, and packaging into compartments.

Hydrothermal Vents

Regions of the ocean floor where superheated water is released from the Earth’s crust, releasing hydrogen-rich fluids and creating a chemical gradient for organic synthesis.

Panspermia

The theory that life on Earth was initially seeded in space or on another planet.

RNA World Hypothesis

Proposes that the first cells used RNA as their genetic material, not DNA.

Proteinoid Microspheres

Tiny bubble-like structures made from proteins, that can establish and maintain a unique internal chemistry.

Coacervates

A microscopic sphere that forms from lipids in water and can maintain an internal chemical environment different from the surrounding environment.

Oxygen Enrichment

The increase in oxygen in the atmosphere, leading to the breakdown of chemicals, evolution of aerobic organisms, and formation of the ozone layer.

Miller-Urey Experiment

Demonstrated the non-living synthesis of simple organic molecules by recreating early Earth conditions.

Biogenesis

Living cells can only be formed by the division of pre-existing cells.

Louis Pasteur

Demonstrated that emergent bacterial growth in nutrient broths was due to contamination by pre-existing cells, supporting the law of biogenesis.

Endosymbiont

A cell which lives inside another cell with mutual benefit, leading to the evolution of eukaryotic cells.

Endosymbiont Hypothesis

Eukaryotic cells evolved from early prokaryotes that were engulfed by phagocytosis and contributed new functionality.