• Question: what are your thoughts on how life originated

    Asked by anon-231543 to Tom, Steven, Jessica, Haafizah, Clio, Bruno Silvester on 14 Nov 2019. This question was also asked by anon-230724.
    • Photo: Tom Snelling

      Tom Snelling answered on 14 Nov 2019:

      The origin of life is a scientific problem which is not yet solved. There are plenty of ideas, but few clear facts.

      It is generally agreed that all life today evolved by common descent from a single primitive lifeform. We do not know how this early form came about, but scientists think it was a natural process which took place perhaps 3,900 million years ago. This is in accord with a philosophy called naturalism: only natural causes are admitted.

      We do not know whether metabolism or genetics came first. The main hypothesis which supports genetics first is RNA world hypothesis, and the one which supports metabolism first is Protein world hypothesis.

      Another big problem is how cells develop. All existing forms of life are built out of cells.

Comments