How Life Came to Be

Theory of Special Creation

- was proposed by Spanish monk Father
Sudrez.
- - According to this oldest theory, all the
different forms of life that occur today on
Earth have been created by God. This idea
is found in the ancient scriptures of almost
every religion.
- According to Christianity, God has
created the whole world for six days and
rested in the seventh day. In Hinduism,
God of creation is Brahma. He created
different forms of life from his body
(More, 2020).
Cosmozoic Theory

- Also called Panspermia Theory

This idea was proposed by Richter (1865)

and Helmholtz (1884) and supported by
Arrhenius (1908). According to this theory,
life has reached planet Earth from other
heavenly bodies such as meteorites, in the
form of highly resistant spores of some
microorganisms.
The spores, called cosmozoa or
panspermia, are preserved inside
meteorites coming to earth from the outer
space. These meteorites struck the barren
earth to release the cosmozoa and
developed into different creatures on the
earth (More, 2020).
Theory on Spontaneous Generation
- Also known as Theory of Abiogenesis or the
Theory of Auto-biogenesis which was
proposed by Greek philosophers (600 B.C.)
and supported by Aristotle (384-322 B.C.)
- This theory assumed that living organisms
could arise suddenly and spontaneously from a
non-living matter.
- Aristotle believed that dead leaves falling
from a tree into a pond would transform into
fishes and those falling on soil would
transform into worms and insects. He also
believed that some insects developed from
morning dew and rotting manure. Maggots
from flesh, tapeworm from animal excreta,
butterflies from cheese.
- Von Helmont said that he had prepared a
‘soup’ from which he could spontaneously
generate rats. The ‘soup’ consisted of a dirty
shirt soaked in water with a handful of wheat
grains for 21 days.

- The idea of spontaneous generation was

popular almost until the seventeenth
century. Many scientists like Descartes,
Galileo and Helmont supported this idea
- This theory was disproved by Francisco
Redi (1665), Spallanzani (1765), and later
by Louis Pasteur (1864) experimentally
(More, 2020).
Biogenesis Theory
- Proposed by Francisco Redi, Lazzaro
Spallanzani, and later supported by Louis
Pasteur.
Proposes that life originated only from pre-
existing life by reproduction and not by
non-living or lifeless matter.
However, this theory could not explain the
origin of the first life on earth but could
satisfactorily explain the continuity of life
(More, 2020).
 Francisco Redi’s Experiment
- Italian physician Redi placed pieces of boiled
meat in three identical jars. He left one jar
uncovered and allowed flies to come in contact
with the meat. He covered the second jar with
cork and the third one with gauze. The jars
were kept undisturbed.
- His hypothesis was supported when
maggots developed in the uncovered jar,
but no maggots appeared in either the
gauze-covered or the tightly sealed jars. -
He concluded
- He concluded that maggots could only
form when flies were allowed to lay eggs
in the meat, and that the maggots were
the offspring of flies, not the product of
spontaneous generation (More, 2020).
 Lazzaro Spallanzani’s Experiment
- Italian scientist Spallanzani poured hay
infusion in eight bottles and boiled all of them.
He did not cover four bottles and the other four
were made airtight. He observed a thick layer
of microorganisms in the open bottles.
- He concluded that air contains
microorganisms which came in contact with
the matter inside the open bottles and is the
cause of contamination and formation of
microorganisms (More, 2020).
Louis Pasteur’s Experiment
French Biochemist Pasteur made a series of
flasks with long, twisted necks (“swan-neck”
flasks), in which he boiled broth to sterilize it.
His design allowed air inside the flasks to be
exchanged with air from the outside, but
prevented the introduction of any airborne
microorganisms, which would get caught in the
twists and bends of the flasks’ necks. If a life
force besides the airborne microorganisms
were responsible for microbial growth within
the sterilized flasks, it would have access to the
broth, whereas the microorganisms would not
- He correctly predicted that sterilized broth in
his swan-neck flasks would remain sterile as
long as the swan necks remained intact.
However, should the necks be broken,
microorganisms would be introduced,
contaminating the flasks and allowing
microbial growth within the broth (Lumen
Learning, n.d.).
 Oparin-Haldane’s Hypothesis

In the 1920s, Russian scientist Aleksandr

Oparin and English scientist J. B. S. Haldane
both separately proposed what's now called
the Oparin-Haldane hypothesis: that life on
Earth could have arisen step-by-step from
non-living matter through a process of
“gradual chemical evolution.”
 Oparin and Haldane thought that the early
Earth had a reducing atmosphere, meaning
an oxygen-poor atmosphere in which
molecules tend to donate electrons. Under
these conditions, they suggested that:

*Simple inorganic molecules could have

reacted (with energy from lightning or the
sun) to form building blocks like amino
acids and nucleotides, which could have
accumulated in the oceans, making a
"primordial soup."

*The building blocks could have combined *The polymers could have assembled in
in further reactions, forming larger, more units or structures that were capable of
complex molecules (polymers) like sustaining and replicating themselves.
proteins and nucleic acids, perhaps in Oparin thought these might have been
pools at the water's edge. “colonies” of proteins clustered togethe
carry out metabolism, while Haldane
suggested that macromolecules becam
enclosed in membranes to make cell-li
structures
The details of this model are probably not
quite correct. For instance, geologists now
think the early atmosphere was not
reducing, and it's unclear whether pools at
the edge of the ocean are a likely site for
life's first appearance. But the basic idea –
a stepwise, spontaneous formation of
simple, then more complex, then
selfsustaining biological molecules or
assemblies – is still at the core of most
originsof-life hypotheses today (Khan
Academy, n.d.)
Urey-Miller Hypothesis
In 1953, Stanley Miller and Harold Urey
did an experiment to test Oparin and
Haldane’s ideas. They found that organic
molecules could be spontaneously
produced under reducing conditions
thought to resemble those of early Earth.

Miller and Urey built a closed system

containing a heated pool of water and a
mixture of gases that were thought to be
abundant in the atmosphere of early earth
(H20, NH3, CH4 and H2). To simulate the
lightning that might have provided energy
for chemical reactions in Earth’s early
atmosphere, Miller and Urey sent sparks of
electricity through their experimental
system.
After letting the experiment run for a week,
Miller and Urey found that various types of
amino acids, sugars, lipids and other
organic molecules had formed. Large,
complex molecules like DNA and protein
were missing, but the Miller-Urey
experiment showed that at least some of
the building blocks for these molecules
could form spontaneously from simple
compounds (Khan Academy, n.d.).
Fossils (evidence of past life, significance
and important fossils)

Fossils are the preserved remains or traces

of animals, plants, and other organisms
from the past. Fossils range in age from
10,000 to 3.48 billion years old. The
observation that certain fossils were
associated with certain rock strata led 19th
century geologists to recognize a geological
timescale. Like extant organisms, fossils
vary in size from microscopic, like single-
celled bacteria, to gigantic, like dinosaurs
- Fossils provide solid evidence that
and trees.
organisms from the past are not the same
as those found today; fossils show a
progression of evolution. Fossils, along
with the comparative anatomy of present-
day organisms, constitute the
morphological, or anatomical record. By
comparing the anatomies of both modern
and extinct species, paleontologists can
infer the lineages of those species.
This approach is most successful for
organisms that had hard body parts, such
as shells, bones or teeth. The resulting
fossil record tells the story of the past and
shows the evolution of form over millions
of years (Lumen Learning, n.d.).
Geologic Time Scale (emergence of life
forms)

Scientists have put together the Geologic

Time Scale to describe the order and
duration of major events on Earth for the
last 4.5 billion years. Some examples of
events listed on the Geologic Time Scale
include the first appearance of plant life on
Earth, the first appearance of animals on
Earth, the formation of Earth’s mountains,
and the extinction of the dinosaurs (Lumen
Learning, n.d.).
Exercises / Activities

1. Which of the following describes a

theory? A. An observation on something in
the natural world B. A belief shared with
many scientists agreeing on the topic C. A
testable hypothesis or prediction that is
potentially falsifiable D. An experimental
procedure of many observations, facts and
results
2. What theory stated that everything on
Earth was created by a Supreme Being? A.
Theory of Special Creation C. Big Bang
Theory B. Theory on Spontaneous
Generation D. Cosmozoic Theory

3. Who among the following scientists was

able to prove that air contains
microorganisms through his experiment?
A. Aristotle C. Lazzaro Spallanzani B.
Francisco Redi D. Louis Pasteur

4. Which theory assumed that living

organisms can arise from non-living
matter? A. Abiogenesis Theory C. Oparin-
Haldane’s Hypothesis B. Biogenesis Theory
D. Urey- Miller Hypothesis
5. Which theory stated that meteorites
containing highly resistant spores struck
the barren earth releasing the spores which
developed into different creatures? A.
Abiogenesis Theory C. Cosmozoic Theory
B. Big Bang Theory D. Theory on
Spontaneous Creation
B. Fill in the Table: Fill in the table below with the missing details. The first one is
done as an example.
1. B
2.A
3.C
4.A
5.C