Open your eyes anywhere on Earth and there is life: whether it’s a pigeon or the invisible microorganisms coating every surface. But when the planet was born 4.5 billion years ago, it was sterile. How did the first life emerge?
The short answer is we don’t know. If we did, we could reproduce it. Scientists could put the right chemicals in a sealed container under the correct conditions and when they opened it, they’d find living organisms. Nobody has ever done this.
But while we don’t know exactly how life began, we have a lot of clues.
Let’s start with the easiest bits: what is life made of and where did those components come from? Living organisms contain thousands of chemicals: like proteins and nucleic acids that carry our genetic information. These chemicals are complex, but we now know that their constituent parts form quite readily.
Denne historien er fra Volume 13 - Issue 6-utgaven av BBC Earth.
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Denne historien er fra Volume 13 - Issue 6-utgaven av BBC Earth.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
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