BIOL 1202 Lecture Notes - Lecture 7: Autocatalysis, Prokaryote, Radiometric Dating
Document Summary
6/14: the ability to reproduce, one giant step for life. For life to persist after becoming established there must have been polymer molecules capable of replicating, or making copies of, themselves. The first self-replicating polymers were probably nucleic acids. One hypothesis is that rna was probably the polymer which acted as the first genetic material. Some of the evidence for rna as the first genetic information is: rna molecules can self-replicate, up to 40 monomers can be connected abioticly into a polymer chain, some rna molecules, like ribozymes, are autocatalytic. The atmosphere has more oxygen and the presence of oxygen can break or prevent the formation of the chemical bonds which are needed for the abiotic formation of organic molecules. The atmosphere also has developed an ozone layer which blocks uv radiation that may have been an energy source for the abiotic formation of organic molecules.
