EPSC 201 Lecture : EPSC201 Lecture 22 Notes.doc
Document Summary
In the last class we looked at where the origin of life might have started. Could life come from other parts of our solar system. There was a martial meteorites that may have contained fossils. There was also nucleic acids found in the meteorites. Carbonaceous chondrites have been found on earth with many different com- plex molecules. Mars, so there are space exploration mis- sions dedicated to this. Water was present on mars, and formed evaporites and canals. Miller envisioned an early atmosphere with no oxygen, but rich in ammonia and methane. Light- ning could have provided the energy to produce amino acids and other complex molecules that are building blocks of life. He showed that a closed system with the gases shown above, when subjected to electricity, can produce amino acids. This provided some energy to say that life may have started in the ocean interface. There are long strands of dna in the nucle- us of the cell.