Origin of Life

André Brack, National Centre for Scientific Research (CNRS), Orléans, France

Published online: November 2010

DOI: 10.1002/9780470015902.a0001639.pub2

Primitive life – defined as a chemical system capable of transfering its molecular information via self-replication and also capable of evolving – probably originated about 4 billion years ago from the processing of organic molecules by liquid water. Organic matter might have been formed in the primitive atmosphere from methane or carbon dioxide but also in submarine hydrothermal vents. A large fraction of prebiotic organic material might have been brought by meteoritic and cometary dust grains decelerated by the atmosphere. Strategies to understand the origin of life include the reconstitution in the laboratory of an artificial life capable of self-reproduction and evolution, the search for fossil traces of life in Archeaen sediments and the search for another example of natural life beyond the Earth, on Mars, Europa, Titan, Enceladus and exoplanets.

Key Concepts:

  • Life emerged about 4 billion years ago with organic molecules capable of self-reproduction and of evolving in liquid water.
  • A large fraction of the prebiotic organic material came from space.
  • The reconstruction of life in a test tube lacks a simple synthesis of RNA.
  • The very early fossil traces of life have been erased.
  • The oldest accepted fossil traces of life are 3.45 billion years old.
  • Mars harboured large oceans in the past and was therefore hospitable to life.
  • Life may be present within the Europa's ocean.
  • Organic chemistry is universal. Life may therefore arise on appropriate extrasolar planets.

Keywords: prebiotic chemistry; chemical evolution; geological records; microfossils; mars; europa; titan; exoplanets

Figure 1. Micrometeorites (50–100 m) collected in Antarctica ice. Courtesy of M Maurette.
Figure 2. Fossilised coccoidal cells in a ~3.5-Ga-old volcanic sediment from the Pilbara, Australia. Two sizes of cells are present: a small dividing pair at the bottom of the image, 0.4 m in diameter, and larger cells, 0.8 m in diameter, also exhibiting cell division. Courtesy of F Westall.
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 Further Reading
    book Basiuk VA (2010) Astrobiology: Emergence, Search and Detection of Life. Los Angeles: American Scientific Publishers.
    book Brack A (ed.) (1998) The Molecular Origins of Life: Assembling Pieces of the Puzzle. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
    book Gilmour I and Sephton M (2004) An Introduction to Astrobiology. Cambridge: The Open University/Cambridge University Press.
    book Gargaud M, Barbier B, Martin H and Reisse J (2006) Lectures in Astrobiology, Vol 1- part 1 & 2. Berlin: Springer.
    book Gargaud M, Claeys Ph, Lopez-Garcia P et al. (2006) From Suns to Life: A Chronological Approach to the History of Life on Earth. Berlin: Springer.
    book Gargaud M, Claeys Ph and Martin H (2006) Lectures in Astrobiology, Vol 2. Berlin: Springer.
    book Horneck G and Rettberg P (2007) Complete Course in Astrobiology. Weinheim: Wiley.
    book Rauchfuss H (2008) Chemical Evolution and the Origin of Life. Berlin: Springer.
    book Sullivan III WT and Baross JA (2007) Planets and Life. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
    book Wong T-F and Lazcano A (2009) Prebiotic Evolution and Astrobiology. Austin: Landes Bioscience.

Related Sub-Topics:

Origin of Life | Biomolecular Interactions
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Article Title: Origin of Life
 
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Brack, André(Nov 2010) Origin of Life. In: eLS. John Wiley & Sons Ltd, Chichester. http://www.els.net [doi: 10.1002/9780470015902.a0001639.pub2]