BIOL 1001 Chapter : Chapter 17 The History Of Life
Document Summary
People used to believe that new organisms sprang up by way of spontaneous generation. Pasteur also performed experiments that refuted spontaneous generation. The first living things must have come from nonliving materials. We know that organic molecules can form spontaneously from non-living materials under low oxygen conditions. The first living things must have come from nonliving material. Some rna molecules, called ribozymes can catalyze reactions. Membrane-like vesicles may have enclosed ribozymes forming protocells. But there is no real evidence of how life began. Early earth was thought to be very hot with a lot of volcanic activity and electrical storms- fig. Lots of volcanic activity, meteorite strikes, & electrical storms. The oldest fossil organisms found so far are about 3. 5 billion years old. Some organisms evolved the ability to capture energy from sunlight while using the earths most abundant source of hydrogen water (h2o) Photosynthesis increased the amount of oxygen in the atmosphere.
