Where Does Life Come From?

Discussion in 'Philosophy' started by LieutenantDank, Dec 11, 2006.

  1. Human beings are made of tissue, which is made of cells. Cells are made of organelles, which are made of organic compounds of various elements. So, if everything in a living being is composed of non-living atoms, where does the life come from?

    :confused:
     
  2. There are several scientific theories of abiogenesis out there. (Click the link for some info.) I think it all started with DNA. So, we know DNA codes for proteins which act as enzymes which facilitate just about every chemical reaction in our bodies. In other words, DNA is damn important and protein is damn important. We once thought only protein could act as enzymes, but scientists have since figured out DNA can act as enzymes too, catalyzing some pretty complex chemical reactions. Well, the Miller Urey experiment showed us that the building blocks for life could form spontaneously in the primordial soup of early Earth. I think RNA enzymes (RNA is the bastard cousin of DNA) formed which could actually catalyze their own reproduction. In short, DNA started as a sort of virus which quickly spread throughout the oceans of early Earth. Then it found its way into micelles, bilipid cell-like structures which we know also formed spontaneously. Voila! We've got the first proto-cell.

    OK, not the best explanation but that's basically a rehash of what I've learned in my bio courses. Fuck, I'm winded. :smoking:
     
  3. if you extend your definition of life far enough, to include that which makes up that which you have already described as life, you'll come to the realisation that life is everpresent through all, and has been here as long as everything has been here.

    and no, this has nothing to do with that joke about my toe.




    but yeah, runner's high said it pretty well as for the celular leaps to RNA etc.

    it's just chemistry, it's how it all fits. some might then ask, well who set the dials to have the chemistry fit so well that it'd happen just so?

    i'd put out the wild theory that we did, in the future, creating our own predistined time loop paradox in which we are the creators of ourselves. :D neat huh?
     
  4. So if one could recreate the same conditions that spawned the first cells, would it do it again? Could it happen differently?
     
  5. yes. yes.



    to answer yet again, in another way, the original question...

    "where does life come from?"

    depending on one's prefered terminology and/or beliefset if applicable...

    the quantum feild.

    the tao.

    love.

    god.

    vishnu's pot of honey.



    (ok, i kinda made that last one up)
     

  6. Dude, you just blew my mind.



    But to the OP, yes it's simply proteins reproducing themselves that makes up life. But the title of your thread is where does life come from, and for that I present this article.
    http://www.popsci.com/popsci/science/2c21c0f98d07b010vgnvcm1000004eecbccdrcrd.html

    "Specifically, Louis has isolated strange, thick-walled, red-tinted cell-like structures about 10 microns in size. Stranger still, dozens of his experiments suggest that the particles may lack DNA yet still reproduce plentifully, even in water superheated to nearly 600˚F. (The known upper limit for life in water is about 250˚F.) So how to explain them? Louis speculates that the particles could be extraterrestrial bacteria adapted to the harsh conditions of space and that the microbes hitched a ride on a comet or meteorite that later broke apart in the upper atmosphere and mixed with rain clouds above India. If his theory proves correct, the cells would be the first confirmed evidence of alien life and, as such, could yield tantalizing new clues to the origins of life on Earth."

    Sounds possible to me, but it's a controversial theory.
     
  7. Life comes from earth i hope. adaptation, ill leave it at that
     
  8. So if everything that life needed was on earth, then any planet could host life as well.
     

  9. I don't understand this statement at all. What do the conditions on earth have to do with other planets being suitable for life?
     

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