Origin of Life Theories Quiz

Panspermia Theory

• Proposed by Svante Arrhenius.

Miller-Urey Experiment

• Aimed to simulate the conditions of early Earth and test the hypothesis that life could have originated from inorganic matter.

Primitive Atmospheric Mixture

• Water vapor (H2O)
• Methane (CH4)
• Ammonia (NH3)
• Hydrogen (H2)

Oparin's Coacervates

• Coacervates are microscopic spherical droplets of organic molecules enclosed by a water layer.
• Oparin proposed that they were precursors to cells, forming by self-assembly of organic molecules in a primitive "soup."

Panspermia Theory Purpose

• Explains the origin of life on Earth by suggesting that it was carried here from space on meteorites or other celestial bodies.

Electric Spark Theory

• Proposes that lightning strikes in the early Earth's atmosphere provided the energy required to form organic molecules from inorganic matter.

Deep-sea Hydrothermal Vents

• Sites in the ocean floor where heat and chemicals from the Earth's interior escape, creating environments rich in energy and nutrients.
• Some scientists propose that these vents could have provided the energy and building blocks for the first forms of life.

Protocell Features

• A self-contained, membrane-bounded structure that possesses the basic properties of a living cell, such as the ability to maintain a chemical gradient and replicate.

Ice-Sheathed Oceans

• The theory suggests that the first life forms might have originated in oceans covered by a thick layer of ice.
• It gained prominence because the ice would have provided protection from harmful UV radiation, and the constant freezing and thawing cycles could have provided a mechanism for concentrating organic molecules.

Abiogenesis

• The scientific theory that proposes life arose from non-living matter through a process of chemical evolution.
• The theory does not explain how life arose, but rather the process by which it could have happened.