Theories of the origin of life
We have all asked ourselves where did I come from? why am I here? how does life exists?. Questions like this have caused that several scientists specialize on this subject for a long time. No one knows exactly how life originated, but there are several theories about this important issue.
Philosophers have been attempting to solve the riddle of existence andorigin of the universe. In the current era, their attention has been particularly focused on the origin of life. The dilemma they face is the question of who preceded whom. The most difficult challenge they face is about the creation of organic material. Organic material is a product of life and life itself is a product of organic material. How did inorganic chemicals convert into organic chemicalsbefore the creation of life? I really don’t get it.
But what is the definition of life? The theories about the origin of life are not within the limits of knowledge but rather in the limits of philosophy. The meaning and definition of life is the most difficult and direct concept that can be presented to any common philosopher. But for me, life is a gift that we all have been given; maybe fromGod or maybe from something or someone else, scientists try to answer this questions by explaining without thinking in the divinity of God, Arguments that life spores were transported to our planet, the earth, still requires answering the same question. Which possible theory was the correct mechanism to explain the generation of life at the remote location where the spores originated?
Puttingaside my believes I’m going to explain some of the theories that have been created since the most remote times.
Creation:
For a long time in the West was accepted literally what the Bible said, thereby accepting the Genesis account of Creation, therefore, the Universe, Earth, living things and human species were created in six days . In fact, from the genealogies of the Bible, it was calculatedthat the exact moment of creation was October 23, 4004 BC, at noon.Today it is understood that the Bible is about religious and moral issues, and should not be taken as a source to clarify scientific issues. Science, meanwhile, can not resolve moral or religious issues. Science and religion deal with different fields and they don’t need to have conflicts.
Spontaneous generation
The idea ofspontaneous generation arose in ancient Greece and prevailed for over two thousand years. It was thought that living things could arise from decaying meat, grain, wet ground … The belief was based on that, indeed, of decaying flesh seemed to grow worms and larvae. Francesco Redi in the seventeenth century, discovered that the larvae did not emerge by themselves, but came from fly eggs. LazzaroSpallanzani in the eighteenth century, showed that in sealed jars containing meat broth appeared microorganisms, those who were poorly sealed did.
The refutation of spontaneous generation
Louis Pasteur in 1864 demonstrated the impossibility of spontaneous generation of life. It was accepted that they could not form complex living beings such as insects, from nowhere, but it was not clear in thecase of microorganisms.
Pasteur prepared several retorts with broth to which the neck stretched and bent in the form of “S”. Boiled to sterilize its contents, but not hermetically closed, so the air could freely enter the interior, but the organisms remained in the gooseneck of the vessel and not contaminate the broth.
Some of these Pasteur retorts are still preserved in the museum and arestill uncontaminated.
This refutation of spontaneous generation was a major milestone for science, because it represented a breakthrough, however, posed a serious problem: if you can not make organic matter from the inorganic, how did life appeared on Earth primitive?
Panspermia
Theory suggests that life seeds came from outer space and planets exchanged life. Panspermia literally means seeds…
