Astronomy 141 - Life in the Universe - Autumn Quarter 2009

Lecture 19: The Origin of Life on Earth


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How did life arise from non-life? Frankly, we don't know, but current
experimental work is aimed at trying to understand how it might work in
biochemical terms. This lecture sets out the problem of "abiogenesis",
and describes our current thinking about the likely origins of life on
Earth. We will review the classic Miller-Urey experiment, and look at
its insights and limitations, discuss meteoritic sources of amino acids,
and the basic requirements needed for protolife. I will then describe
in outline two scenarios that are active areas of origins research: the
RNA World model and the Metabolism First model. Finally, I will very
briefly mention Exogenesis and Panspermia, which don't really address
the problem of abiogenesis so much as move it elsewhere. Recorded live
on 2009 Oct 20 in Room 1005 Smith Laboratory on the Columbus campus of
The Ohio State University.
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Astronomy 141 - Life in the Universe - Autumn Quarter 2009By Richard Pogge


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