AST251H1 Study Guide - Final Guide: Green Sulfur Bacteria, Cambrian Explosion, Silicate Minerals
Document Summary
Miller urey experiment: scientists recognized that the earth should have been oxygen free and sunlight fueled chemical reactions could have started life on earth. They used small glass flasks that simulated chemical conditions in early earth. Water vapor, methane and ammonia (one flask) Flows into second flask where they provide electric sparks. Showed that it contained amino acids and organic molecules after a week. Experiment demonstrated that under some conditions of life, the building blocks of life form naturally and abundantly. Ultraviolet light from the young sun could have produced building blocks of life. All three played a role in shaping the chemistry of early earth: chemical reactions in ocean surfaces, chemical reactions in deep sea vents, material from space. Heredity today is shaped by dna , which serves this function primarily because of its ability to replicate . Early life must have had a self-replicating molecule. Dna is too complex and replication intertwined with rna and proteins.