[PatrickHenry]

Everyone be nice.

[PatrickHenry]

EvolutionPing

A pro-evolution science list with over 310 names. See the list's explanation at my freeper homepage. Then FReepmail to be added or dropped. See what's new in The List-O-Links.

[js1138]

A Blast from the past

Life as we know it is too complex to have originated in its present form. Nucleic acids and proteins and most organic molecules necessary for life are too complex to have originated in the primitive atmosphere even if the conditions were favorable.

We need to find something that is capable of growing, replicating (not perfectly), and providing a substrate for the formation of molecules necessary for life as we know it today. What could possibly do that?

Ah yes, crystals of clay! Clay is abundant. It grows and replicates but not perfectly thus allowing for irregularities to accumulate. These crystals with irregularities could then provide a surface that brought molecules together in close proximity so that they could interact and produce the organic molecules needed for life. Eventually, the secondary organisms that resulted from this process achieved a certain complexity that gave rise to life as we know it.

[Pharmboy]

A bit of history of spontaneous generation.


The Slow Death of Spontaneous Generation (1668-1859)
Russell Levine and Chris Evers

---

From the time of the ancient Romans, through the Middle Ages, and until the late nineteenth century, it was generally accepted that some life forms arose spontaneously from non-living matter. Such "spontaneous generation" appeared to occur primarily in decaying matter. For example, a seventeenth century recipe for the spontaneous production of mice required placing sweaty underwear and husks of wheat in an open-mouthed jar, then waiting for about 21 days, during which time it was alleged that the sweat from the underwear would penetrate the husks of wheat, changing them into mice. Although such a concept may seem laughable today, it is consistent with the other widely held cultural and religious beliefs of the time.

The first serious attack on the idea of spontaneous generation was made in 1668 by Francesco Redi, an Italian physician and poet. At that time, it was widely held that maggots arose spontaneously in rotting meat. Redi believed that maggots developed from eggs laid by flies. To test his hypothesis, he set out meat in a variety of flasks, some open to the air, some sealed completely, and others covered with gauze. As he had expected, maggots appeared only in the open flasks in which the flies could reach the meat and lay their eggs.

This was one of the first examples of an experiment in the modern sense, in which controls are used. In spite of his well-executed experiment, the belief in spontaneous generation remained strong, and even Redi continued to believe it occurred under some circumstances. The invention of the microscope only served to enhance this belief. Microscopy revealed a whole new world of organisms that appeared to arise spontaneously. It was quickly learned that to create "animalcules," as the organisms were called, you needed only to place hay in water and wait a few days before examining your new creations under the microscope.

The debate over spontaneous generation continued for centuries. In 1745, John Needham, an English clergyman, proposed what he considered the definitive experiment. Everyone knew that boiling killed microorganisms, so he proposed to test whether or not microorganisms appeared spontaneously after boiling. He boiled chicken broth, put it into a flask, sealed it, and waited - sure enough, microorganisms grew. Needham claimed victory for spontaneous generation.

An Italian priest, Lazzaro Spallanzani, was not convinced, and he suggested that perhaps the microorganisms had entered the broth from the air after the broth was boiled, but before it was sealed. To test his theory, he modified Needham's experiment - he placed the chicken broth in a flask, sealed the flask, drew off the air to create a partial vacuum, then boiled the broth. No microorganisms grew. Proponents of spontaneous generation argued that Spallanzani had only proven that spontaneous generation could not occur without air.

The theory of spontaneous generation was finally laid to rest in 1859 by the young French chemist, Louis Pasteur. The French Academy of Sciences sponsored a contest for the best experiment either proving or disproving spontaneous generation. Pasteur's winning experiment was a variation of the methods of Needham and Spallanzani. He boiled meat broth in a flask, heated the neck of the flask in a flame until it became pliable, and bent it into the shape of an S. Air could enter the flask, but airborne microorganisms could not - they would settle by gravity in the neck. As Pasteur had expected, no microorganisms grew. When Pasteur tilted the flask so that the broth reached the lowest point in the neck, where any airborne particles would have settled, the broth rapidly became cloudy with life. Pasteur had both refuted the theory of spontaneous generation and convincingly demonstrated that microorganisms are everywhere - even in the air.

[mikeus_maximus]

Unbelievable. Simple carbon compounds are combined in the right soil conditions, and from that we're to assume that they not only organized themselves into vastly complex patterns of codified information, but spontaneously generated life. I wish I could have that of faith.

[ASA Vet]

Everyone be nice.

You're asking to much. The SN's will be in full attack mode on this one.
I'll leave before it starts. Thanks for another interesting article.

[RoadTest]

"And God said, Let the waters bring forth abundantly the moving creature that hath life, and fowl that may fly above the earth in the open firmament of heaven. And God created great whales, and every living creature that moveth, which the waters brought forth abundantly, after their kind, and every winged fowl after his kind: and God saw that it was good. And God blessed them, saying, Be fruitful, and multiply, and fill the waters in the seas, and let fowl multiply in the earth. And the evening and the morning were the fifth day." Gen. 1:20

[Calpernia]

[js1138]

Adding to the confusion...

http://originoflife.net/cairns_smith/index.html

[VadeRetro]

Note to the dumb-as-a-stump crowd:

THIS IS RESEARCH INTO "ABIOGENESIS." YES, IT IS SPECULATIVE. HOWEVER, IT IS NOT DIRECTLY RELATED TO WHETHER THE CURRENT LIFE FORMS OF EARTH ARE RELATED BY COMMON DESCENT. THE MECHANISMS INVESTIGATED HERE ARE NOT "HERITABLE RANDOM VARIATION AND NATURAL SELECTION," THE CLASSICAL ENGINE OF DARWINIAN EVOLUTION.

[Doctor Stochastic]

Clays are a good candidate. I don't suppose there's much naturally occuring Raney Nickel lying around.

[RogueIsland]

See? See? This proves that Adam was made from dirt!

[wallcrawlr]

ping

Revelation 4:11Intelligent Design
See my profile for info

[Antonello]

I wonder how this will affect the calculations of the mathematical improbability crowd.

[Coyoteman]

Check back later ===> Placemarker <===

[Physicist]

They move round,
Sunlight,
Seeing ground,
Whispers of clay,
Alternate ways

[microgood]

These findings add weight to the idea that clays were the key to the origin of life.

This is just silly. Everyone knows life started when a lightning bolt hit a pond of primordial goo. This is just blasphemy.

[tutstar]

oh brother!

[JSDude1]

Well these people are getting closer to the truth; but they are not quite there yet: man did come from clay, but it took God (a miracle) to cause life ;)!

[dennisw]

For growing crops clay soil is better than sandy soil.

[Clemenza]

He was once an itty bitty glob of clay
GUMBY!
You should see what Gumby can do today
GUMBY!
If you have a heart then Gumby's a part of you
Of you......
GUMBY!