Jakarta –
The life that detikers feel now is a continuous continuation of the first living creatures on earth, then the question arises, how did life originate? This article will answer the theory of chemical evolution.
Quoted from the book Easy and Active Learning Biology by Rikky Firmansyah, et al. The theory of chemical evolution states that the origins of life began with the formation of organic compounds.
These chemical compounds are in the form of gases, such as methane (CH4), hydrogen (H2), water vapor (H2O), and ammonia (NH3) in the atmosphere, as well as amino acids formed from energy rocks, the energy rocks themselves come from cosmos rays and flash of lightning
The theory of chemical evolution was first proposed by Aleksandr Ivanovich Oparin, a Russian biochemist and JBS Haldane, an English geneticist in 1924, as well as Harold Urey as an American physical chemist.
However, this theory was only proven in 1953 by Stanley Miller in America. At that time, Miller made a device that imitated the initial conditions of the earth before life.
The following is an explanation of the theory of chemical evolution from Oparin and Haldane, Harold Urey, and Stanley Miller:
Teori AL Oparin dan Haldane
In 1924, AL Oparin first put forward his hypothesis about life originating from organic compounds that were in the atmosphere before the earth was formed.
In his book entitled The Origin of Lifehe explained that initially, the earth’s atmosphere had water, methane, ammonia and CO2 but oxygen (O2) had not yet been discovered.
The formation of amino acids from these compounds occurs because they mix in the still hot sea (primordial soup) and carry out synthesis until small organic molecules or monomers are formed, the monomers combine again to form polymers.
So Oparin predicted that life developed starting from lipid molecules that formed spontaneously and became the earliest forms of cells.
This is supported by Haldane who believes that creatures live in hot oceans, so their energy can be used to carry out chemical reactions.
The chemical reaction products form a kind of steam consisting of chemical compounds, these chemical compounds are the materials that form ‘cells’.
Oparin and Haldane’s hypothesis opened larger research to reveal the origins of life.
Harold Urey’s theory
Quoted in the book Sketches of the Philosophy of Science 2nd Edition by 5000 Doctors PTIQ Jakarta 2019, Harold Urey stated that at one time the earth’s atmosphere was rich in molecules of substances such as methane, water vapor, ammonia and carbon dioxide, all of which were in the form of steam.
Due to the influence of cosmic ray radiation energy and lightning electricity, reactions occur between these chemical compounds to produce living substances.
According to him, living substances were first formed, resembling today’s viruses, these living substances continued to develop over millions of years into several types of living creatures.
The formation of living things from various molecules is supported under several conditions, namely:
Condition one is a condition where there are abundant methane, ammonia, water vapor and hydrogen molecules in the earth’s atmosphere.
This stage takes place when there is energy assistance arising from the reaction between the electric current of lightning and cosmic ray radiation, which then forms larger substance molecules.
In this condition, the simplest living substances begin to form, the chemical composition of which can be compared to the chemical composition of viruses.
Over millions of years, the simplest forms of living matter develop into a type of organism, namely a more complex living creature.
Theory Stanley Miller
Miller was a student of Harold Urey, he succeeded in proving Urey’s theory with experiments using a device called an uratmospheric plane in the laboratory.
This tool has conditions similar to when there was no life on earth, it includes gases such as hydrogen, water vapor, methane and ammonia.
Meanwhile, to replace lightning, Miller used 75,000 volts of electricity. The results of this experiment were that within a few days, the water from Miller’s series of glass tubes changed color.
The results of Miller’s analysis show that the color of the reservoir water changes due to the presence of amino acids in the water, so it is known that amino acids are organic substances that form proteins.
This proves that inorganic substances or non-living matter can form at least the organic substances found in living things.
This is the theory of chemical evolution in the origins of life which apparently started with amino acids in the primordial soup becoming living substances, which was put forward by 3 researchers and proven by Stanley Miller.
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2024-02-25 00:00:58
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