Origin of Life 5 



Origin of Life 

 The origin of life remains a mystery. The only generalization 

 based on evidence that biology has been able to make since the old, 

 crude notions of spontaneous generation were disproved in the 

 nineteenth century is "all life from life." Yet scientists have not 

 been backward in proposing theories. Snyder (1909, 1911) believes 

 that life was at first anaerobic and gives the following as his argu- 

 ments: (1) many of the simplest organisms are today anaerobic; 

 (2) fundamental cell processes are anaerobic, and oxidation is per- 

 haps to be looked upon as only secondarily associated with life proc- 

 esses as a means of removing wastes; (3) aerobic life evolved from 

 anaerobic because of increased need for oxygen; (4) the need for 

 oxygen increases with increase in body size; and (5) the oxygen in 

 the atmosphere has come largely from the activities of plants and 

 was not present in considerable amounts until plants had evolved to 

 such a degree that they could manufacture it. Snyder also discusses 

 the physical conditions which he believes were associated with the 

 beginnings of life. He postulates such a sequence of activities as: 

 (1) reactions of carbon dioxide and water vapor in a concentrated 

 mixture under the influence of electrical discharges to produce for- 

 maldehyde or even formic acid; (2) the reaction of such compounds 

 with ammonia or with amine or imine radicals, or with prussic acid 

 to form simple amino acids; (3) the precipitation of colloidal sub- 

 stances in a solution containing metal salts, such as those of phos- 

 phoric acid, and resulting combinations; (4) coagulations, resolu- 

 tions, and aggregations of particles; and (5) "the formation, 

 through the chemical activity of these bioblasts, of an enclosing 

 membrane, resulting in the first living 'cells'." Crile, Glasser, 

 Telkes, & Rowland (1932) emphasize the formation and activities 

 of nitrocarbons as a primary quality of life. Gulick (1948) gives 

 evidence from the point of view of a biochemist that supports his 

 belief that life originated in the sea. 



