The origin of life is a mystery to science. By Deborah Garcia Bello

If primordial Earth conditions were reproduced in the laboratory, could life arise? he In 1924, biochemist Oparin formulated the hypothesis of the origin of life. From the “primordial soup” rich in organic compounds – mostly carbon, nitrogen and hydrogen – exposed to ultraviolet radiation and electrical energy. Nearly thirty years later, chemist Stanley Miller, after meeting geochemist Harold C. Urey, who was already working on this type of research, designed an experiment to test it. he Miller’s experience It is one of the most famous in history and Keep repeating with small variations And to this day.

Miller’s experiment consists of: Mixing of gases that were considered to be present in the atmosphere of primitive Earth -Methane, ammonia, hydrogen, and water vapor-, and check their interaction with each other They can produce organic compounds essential for life. To do this, they had to work in the absence of oxygen (in a reducing atmosphere), with all the vials sterilized so that no microbes would contaminate the results and a power source to simulate storms and volcanoes on the planet. A few days after the start of the experiment, some biomolecules were formed, e.g Glycine, urea and some amino acids.

The experiment was repeated with variations. Miller chose electrical discharges as the energy source, but most of the energy input to early Earth would have been something else, such as ultraviolet radiation and meteorites. However, electrical discharges are very effective in synthesizing hydrogen cyanide, a toxic molecule but also an essential intermediate for the synthesis of DNA bases. This was proven in 1961 by the Spanish biochemist Joan Oro, who discovered that adenine – one of the bases… DNA– can be obtained Of hydrogen cyanide, ammonia and water.

Various gas compositions in the atmosphere have been tested. For some time this has been suggested The atmosphere could be more oxidized than previously thought, which include carbon monoxide and carbon dioxide, but this has led to a significant reduction in the amount and repertoire of biomolecules produced. also An attempt was made to replace hydrogen with nitrogenResulting in a richer primal soup, containing 13 of the 20 amino acids that make up proteins. Changing the pH of water and incorporating it into different aggregation states has also been experimented with –Liquid water, steam, frozen water or aerosolThis made it possible to change the performance of the reactions and obtain slightly different biomolecules such as carboxylic acids when using spray water or polycyclic aromatic compounds when using ice.

he Vial material Miller’s experience is also more important than previously thought. In chemistry laboratories we typically use borosilicate glass flasks, a specific type of glass in which boron begins to occupy the silicon sites, shrinking the structure and making it more resistant to changes in temperature. This is why borosilicate glass, known as… Pyrex glassis working on making Primal soups and for making lasagna in the Oven. However, the reducing atmosphere used by Miller, rich in ammonia, is capable of chemically activating the glass surface, affecting the performance of the reactions. For this The experiment was repeated using different reactors: Glass, Teflon (an inert polymer). Teflon with pieces of glass. The results show unequivocally that Borosilicate glass plays a major role In Miller’s composition, in yield, in the number of manufactured products and in their chemical diversity. Glass was therefore a necessary catalyst for the synthesis of a large portion of the biomolecules obtained by Miller. This discovery has important geochemical implications; It requires expanding the gas-phase fabrication scenario to one that includes metal surfaces.

Is it possible that life originated elsewhere and landed on Earth? Which is known as Panspermiathe hypothesis that There is no solution to what is the origin of karmaYes, but it puts him in another time and place. On September 28, Crashed in 1969 near Murchison, Australia, a meteorite formed 4.6 billion years ago. The meteorite contains organic matter, hydrocarbons, and a variety of biomolecules within it; Surprisingly, among them are amino acids and other molecules that Miller synthesized in his experiments.

He is Perhaps life appeared elsewhere Universe if conditions are right? The laws of physics and chemistry are universal, so if you believe that nonliving matter can be transformed into living matter through chemical phenomena, it makes sense to believe that life can occur elsewhere. Miller’s experiment and its variants have served to provide evidence supporting the evolutionary development of life and to open new disciplines such as prebiotic chemistry and astrobiology, which studies the origin, evolution, distribution, and future of life in the universe.

However, atom by atom, the molecules that make up a living organism can be built Life in the laboratory has never been achievedNot even any polymer is close to being considered a primitive form of life. The “spark of life” that distinguishes life from inert matter has already been proposed by vitalist philosophers as a vital force – also called spirit or soul – which cannot be explained by knowledge generated by physics or science. Therefore, vitalism arose in opposition to mechanism, which suggests that living organisms are comparable to machines and that the mind is the result of the arrangement of machine organs, in the same way that clock movements derive from the arrangement. Of gears and counterweights. This is how Descartes described it.

Electricity has long been considered Spark of lifeIn the same way that Miller proposed that electrocution of primitive soup was a possible origin of life, the physiologist Galvani proposed in 1780 that the electrical impulses that produce the muscular contractions of living organisms—something he discovered by subjecting living dead frogs to electric shocks—are Indeed “life force”.

In the same line of thought as Galvani, on imagination Dr. Frankenstein collected the remains of meat and used electric shocks He managed to breathe life into the atoms of his serialized monster. Photographs of Miller with his flask illuminated by electric flashes published in the media at the time contributed to his view as a kind of real-life Frankenstein. Thus, the difference between the living and the dead is electrical; Just as when electricity is turned off in neurons, life is stopped.

From a philosophical point of view, Miller’s experiment clarified the big question: Are we more than serial atoms? We could not generate life in the laboratory. Even if we didn’t have a recipe for the perfect primordial soup, it wouldn’t have been possible to breathe life into the material. This is why comparing matter to life is like comparing the brain to the mind, or like comparing the piano to music. We are made of the same elementary particles, of the same clay, but resplendent, an image that appears in Genesis 2:7: “And God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; Man has become a living being.”