Theories On The Origins Of Life (1969)

for life is passed from generation to generation and with it the Quest for the secret of life's Origins this is the story of man's quest for that secret among all the living creatures of the earth man alone is consciously aware of himself as a living being his life is priceless to him man knows that without life he is nothing he has made the discovery of death since time unknown he has labored with all his skills to preserve and prolong the vital spark of life but what life is and where it came from man does not know some men have speculated that life was a gift of the Gods wonder about life's Origins may be as old as the earliest [Music] man embedded in stone remnants of ancient life have haunted his imagination and his imagination has linked him to unknown generations of the past did life perhaps arise somehow from the non-living mud of a river coursing through ancient Canyons or was it perhaps blown to Earth from some Far corner of the universe the forms of life's Beginnings are Phantom hidden some believe in the secrets of an ear ier environment from which our own world evolved how did Life Begin even at the dawn of civilization man was AED by the mystery of being alive to a Pantheon of gods he attributed the Bounty of sun rain and harvest and the disasters of earthquake and storm to a god also he attributed the gift of life he speculated that a supernatural being or power designed the universe and created in it each separate species this theory of special creation he endowed with religious Authority but the modern scientist working in his laboratory through observation and experimentation cannot test the theory of special creation his investigations may lead to an understanding of the conditions required for life's Origins long ago man began to observe the environment in which he lived his observations led him to speculate on a possible source of life he had seen muddy rivers apparently empty of Life suddenly swarming with fish on decayed organic matter where he had seen nothing maggots appeared man speculated that life must arise spontaneously from non-living matter but did Life Begin by some kind of spontaneous generation to find out man began to look more closely at life to test his theories in laboratory experiments the fish in one flask was covered the fish in the other flask was left uncovered on the fish in the open flask flies gathered later when the other flask was uncovered there was no sign of life but on the fish which had not been covered maggots appeared did the Flies deposit the maggots on the fish once man had the microscope he could easily see the flies eggs from which maggots developed life appeared to have come from Life Andy could see a new world of life never before observed the world of M microorganisms a new question arose where did microorganisms come from The Men Who first used microscopes could not always distinguish between living and non-living matter therefore some thought that microorganisms generated spontaneously from decayed organic materials in experiments in the 19th century Louie pastur bred flourishing microorganisms in open flasks exposed to the air but in his other flasks no microorganisms grew their long curved necks trapped microorganisms from the air before they could reach the infusion pasture had initially sterilized both infusions by boiling them to gather further Evidence pasture removed the curved neck of one flask exposing the infusion to microorganisms in the air the neck of the other flask remained in place later microorganisms grew in the exposed flask pasture and most scientists with him believed he had proved that microorganisms existed in the air that they did not generate spontaneously closer observation and experiment in the laboratory showed that under the conditions of the experiment life came from life but did it to other men fossils suggested a third way in which life might have developed on Earth the strange forms and Antiquity of fossils made them think that life might be Eternal they proposed that life had always existed somewhere in the universe that from other planets living organisms in the form of bacterial spores had been blown to Earth through space there to begin the evolution of the Earth's living creatures proponents of this Cosmo Theory believe that spores might have come to Earth from meteorites in modern Laboratories bacterial spores have been subjected to the conditions of the inter planetary Journey few have been found that could survive the radiation intensity of outer space the question remains where and how might life have begun elsewhere in the cosmos the theory that life came from other planets leaves unanswered the question of what kind of life could have survived such a journey but what of that other Journey biological evolution before man had tested the cosmo theory in the laboratory he was beginning to explore another idea that might lead to an explanation of life this was Charles Darwin's idea that the Living World evolved from lower forms of life yet how far back does biological evolution go since Darwin's time man has found increasing evidence of life's Antiquity using modern techniques he has learned to date the evidence the oldest fossils have been dated at over 3 billion years in age yet they represent fairly Advanced and complex organisms what was life like before them from what did they evolve today man can ask his questions a little differently than the Indian in the canyon did man knows now that the environment of the Primitive Earth was very different from today's environment with sophisticated equipment he seeks to recreate in the laboratory the Primitive conditions under which life might have begun in 1953 Stanley Miller conducting an experiment designed by Harold Yuri found new evidence of primitive evolution in a mixture of gases resembling the Primitive atmosphere energized by electrical discharges he synthesized four amino acids fundamental constituents of protein of which most living tissue is made other scientists like Cel Pon peruma working with different chemicals and energy sources have also synthesized some of the building blocks of life the synthesis of molecules in a primitive environment could have been the first step in the evolution of life in their flasks scientists have produced a a primordial soup the evidence mounts that the first life might have evolved from non-living matter in just such an environment oranic Evol are mulative the early organic molecules may have evolved from the non-organic soup into more complex molecules until one or more of them was able to reproduce itself and so begin the process of biological evolution how did Life Begin many men believe that life was created by a supernatural being yet man search for a scientific answer to this question has challenged his imagination and his skill Through the Ages he has seen living creatures rise from non-living environments and suggested that life came from non-living matter and he has looked at the skies and wondered if life came from elsewhere in the universe he has looked closely at living species at fossils and at the Earth and is theorized that life evolved in the course of chemical changes in the earth's primitive environment man goes into the future with more knowledge and more skilled than he has ever possessed before as he begins to explore new planets perhaps he will find on them Clues to the riddle of life on Earth as his knowledge and experience expands he may also find new ways to test his theories and perhaps he will find new answers not even imagined today