Intro to Bio 1.1 Evolution

1) Order
2) Reproduction
3) Growth and Development
4) Energy Processing
5) Response to the Environment
6) Regulation
7) Evolution

1) Black Stage
2) Gray Stage
3) Blue Stage
4) Red Stage
5) White Stage
6) Green Stage

1) Earth formed from meteorites, rocks and dust present at the start of our solar system
2) Over time planets of collided rock started circling the sun
3) Earth was hot molten rock but began to cool and solidify to basaltic rock

1) The original meteorites that formed Earth had only about 250 minerals
2) Intense heat and pressures in the creation of our planet caused new minerals to form
3) Granite became the foundation of our continents
4) The appearance of Earth changed from black to gray
5) No plants or animals (yet)

1) Earth cooled enough for liquid water: First oceans formed
2) Water is a great solvent so molecules of all types are floating and interacting
3) Zircon crystals, created 4.3 billion years ago, could only have formed in the presence of liquid water
4)Stromatolites dated to 3.5 billion years ago, oldest fossil of life on Earth (not necessarily first living thing)
5)Possible detection of faint signal of life at 3.8 billion years ago
6)Water plays a central role in every model for the origin of life

1) Heavy atmosphere was rich in nitrogen and carbon dioxide but lacked free oxygen
2) Microbes, like those in the stromatolites begin to conduct photosynthesis
3) That led to a dramatic rise in a gaseous oxygen
4)The early oceans were filled with dissolved iron, it began to rust (due to Oxygen) and sink to the bottom of the sea
5) Two-thirds of the 5000 minerals that now make up our planet were created by the introduction of oxygen
6) Rocks create life, life creates rocks

1) New continents formed and broke apart, which may have created dramatic extremes in the climate
2) Earth plunged into a deep freeze
3) Life was nearly wiped out
4) Volcanoes caused carbon dioxide level to rise, this kept heat in and helped perpetuate life
5) CO2 rises and the greenhouse effect causes the planet to “melt”
6) Cycles of these snowball hothouse conditions had profound consequences for life

1) The diversity of life on Earth exploded due to microbes rise of oxygen
2) Evidence of life co-opting minerals for its own evolutionary advantage (shells, teeth, bones)
3) Life is creating and sculpting our surroundings
4) Life has the power to transform a planet

1) Basic elements and basic organic compounds
2) Complex biomolecule(s) capable of replication
3) Membrane enclosure
4) Selection and evolutionary change

The dead star explodes and the energy generated overcomes barriers imposed by the concentration of iron allowing other higher elements to be formed.

1)Proteins known as enzymes catalyze reactions essential to cell's survival.
2) Altman & Cech (1982) discovered RNAs can act as catalysts for chemical reactions. Catalytic RNAs known as ribozymes discovered.
3)Certain ribozymes called RNA replicases were also found to catalyze their own synthesis.
4) Primitive RNAs can be self duplicating and have enzymatic functions

1) Natural bilayers are made of phospholipid bilayer.
2) Hydrophilic Head & 2 Hydrophobic Tails.
3) When exposed to H2O spontaneously form a two-layered sheet with tails pointing toward the center.
4) The cell membranes of all living organisms are made of a lipid bilayer, as are membranes surrounding nucleus & other sub-cellular structures.

1) Protocells encapsulated with higher RNA content outcompete protocells with no or little RNA.
1.5) May grow by 'stealing' membrane
2) RNA’s must be replicases and mutation rate will generate better versions and enhance competition with other protocells.
3) Merging with other protocells can bring RNA with other capabilities into the protocell.

1) Structures that are formed from the aggregation of abiotic (non-living) components such as lipids.
2) They are enclosed by a membrane and display some characteristics similar to living cells, such as growth and division.
3) Protocells are proposed to be a stepping-stone towards the origin of life.