Lecture 19: The Origin of Life on Earth
How did life arise from non-life? Frankly, we don't know, but current\nexperimental work is aimed at trying to understand how it might work in\nbiochemical terms. This lecture sets out the problem of "abiogenesis",\nand describes our current thinking about the likely origins of life on\nEarth. We will review the classic Miller-Urey experiment, and look at\nits insights and limitations, discuss meteoritic sources of amino acids,\nand the basic requirements needed for protolife. I will then describe\nin outline two scenarios that are active areas of origins research: the\nRNA World model and the Metabolism First model. Finally, I will very\nbriefly mention Exogenesis and Panspermia, which don't really address\nthe problem of abiogenesis so much as move it elsewhere. Recorded live\non 2009 Oct 20 in Room 1005 Smith Laboratory on the Columbus campus of\nThe Ohio State University.