Origin Of Life

• Life is defined as something being organized as cells, responding to stimuli, regulating its internal processes, using energy to grow, and development throughout  
• its lifetime and finally the ability to reproduce.
• Conditions on an “Early Earth” were much different than what we know now. Hydrogen and its electrons were much more abundant, there was no free oxygen and much of the energy came from lightning, UV radiation or some kind of volcanic activity.
• RNA is likely the first genetic material because of its versatility in function, the ability to code info, its enzyme functions, and use as both regulatory and transport molecules
• Prokaryotes dominated life at first from 3.5 to 2.0 bya
• The accumulation of Oxygen in 2.7 bya (evidenced by rusting in rocks), makes aerobic respiration possible
• This would eventually lead to the first photosynthetic bacteria and from that would Eukaryotes stem from.
• Eukaryotes are unique in that they have created specialized compartments in which they carry out their functions. This specialization greatly increases the overall efficiency of the cell, allowing it to survive throughout all these years.