In the article “Origin of Life:
Power Behind Primordial Soup Discovered” researchers at the University of Leeds believe they have solved a key
puzzle about how objects from space may have kindled life on Earth. While many
believe that during the meteorite bombarding of the early Earth important ingredients
for life came about. Before this discovery scientists have not been able to
explain how living organisms sprung out of life less rocks. The new study shows how a chemical, similar
to one now found in all living cells and vital for generating the energy to live.
Scientists believe this chemical could have been created when meteorites
containing phosphorus minerals landed in hot, acidic pools of liquids around
volcanoes, which were common across the early Earth. All life on Earth use a
process called chemiosmosis to create its energy to live. The chemical called
ATP key for chemiosmosis to work is broken down and is changed during
respiration to release energy used to drive the reactions of life. Due to the
complex enzymes required for both the creation and break down of ATP are
unlikely to have existed on Earth when it was bombarded. This made scientists
look for a simpler chemical with similar properties to ATP, but that does not
require enzymes to transfer energy. The scientists simulated the impact of a
meteorite with the hot, volcanically active during early Earth. They placed
samples of the Sikhote-Alin meteorite, an iron meteorite that fell in Siberia
in 1947 and placed it in acid that was retrieved from the Hveradalur geothermal
area in Iceland. The rock was left in the acid for over 30 days and
observations were made. After the scientists found the compound pyrophosphate,
the part of ATP responsible for energy transfer. The scientists concluded this
compound could have acted as an earlier form of ATP.
With the new idea that pyrophosphate
acted as ATP in the early stages of the Earth and help living organisms spring out of life less
rocks gives scientist a stronger grasp on what earth and its surroundings were
like before life. As scientists learn more about the Earth it will give them a
better idea of how humans came to be and evolved over time. Also pyrophosphates
are now being found of different planets, such as Mars. The Curiosity rover on Mars recently
reported the presence of phosphorus on the Planet. One of scients part of this
experiment was found saying "If Curiosity has found phosphorus in one of
the forms we produced in Iceland, this may indicate that conditions on Mars
were at one point suitable for the development of life in much the same way we
now believe it developed on Earth," added Dr Kee. With this new develop
this could prove that Earth is not only planet that has living organisms.
Even though I found the article to
be good I found it to be boring and some parts. Also, I found the peace to be
hard to follow at points; you had to have some scientific back round to
understand what the author was talking about. Overall I found the peace to have
an interesting topic.
posted for L. Lynch
My classmate Liam made a very interesting review of the article “Origin of Life: Power Behind Primordial Soup Discovered”. In his review, one thing that Liam did very well was he gave some information that made reading and understanding the article much easier. Also, he made some very interesting analysis of this finding, such as this finding being evidence that conditions on mars were at one point suitable for life. A third thing that I found to be very well done in this review was the critique. I agreed with all of the points in the critique, especially the part that it was a little hard to follow at times.
ReplyDeleteAlthough Liam’s review of the article was very good, there were a couple things that I think he could have improved. There were a couple of points where some sentences were hard to understand in the review, such as “The new study shows how a chemical, similar to one now found in all living cells and vital for generating the energy to live.” It would have been better to say “The new study shows how a chemical, similar to one now found in all living cells, is vital for generating the energy to live.” Another thing that could have done better was referring to the article as “the peace” was very confusing. Not only should he have said “the piece,” but I think it would have been better to just say “this article”.
There were many new things that I learned from reading this review by Liam and the article itself. I think the most interesting thing I learned was that life was possibly created by meteorites containing phosphorus that landed in hot, acidic pools. I think it is amazing how such a complex thing as life could have come about in such a way.
I read the review “Origin of Life: Power Behind Primordial Soup Discovered” by my classmate Liam Lynch. It was about how certain lifeless materials from asteroids were turned into life. Liam’s summary was very informative and detailed, allowed me to get all of the information from the article. It worked putting every single detail about the article, as it gave a better understanding. Liam also did a very good job of explaining the chemical and biological parts of the information, such as the creation of ATP without enzymes. He obviously knows a lot about this type of science, as he explained it very well, but also understandably. Liam also was able to explain the findings’ significance in the world of science. Liam even included how it could explain the possibility of life on other planets. This is a very important part of biology to discover and investigate. Although it was a very good review, Liam could have improved on some points. For example, his grammar could be improved, as it had multiple errors. However, they did not affect the essence of the article too much. Liam could have also explained a bit more on how scientists have learned that the building blocks of life come from asteroids. I have heard about this before, but would like to learn more. It is definitely an interesting topic, as it could explain the origin of life. Overall, Liam’s review was very interesting nonetheless. What is most amazing is the topic of the review. Research like this is so important for the world and should definitely be looked into.
ReplyDelete