There has been a lot of progress in the abiogenesis theory in recent years, and I thought it would be worth going over the basic steps of abiogenesis that HAVE been observed in labs.
1. Using models of ancient Earth conditions, simple sugars, amino acids, lipids, and nucleic acids are present and form naturally.
2. In the presence of energy (present on the ancient Earth in the forms of heat vents, and even lightening) promote these molecules to build up into larger, more complex molecules (the energy is not necessary for them to do so, it just makes the process faster). Nucleic acids form RNA, and some of these RNA molecules can and do independently replicate.
3. Lipids naturally form bilayers in liquid water (this is what cell membranes are). When these bubbles of lipids form, they capture molecules in the surrounding environment. They can also continue to capture molecules, eventually becoming larger and eventually dividing from the pressure into two lipid bubbles.
4. Lipid bubbles that capture RNA molecules that can replicate have the means to reproduce and pass down basic genetic material. Metabolism consists purely of the lipid bubble taking in molecules from its environment through diffusion (an unguided process), and molecules that don't end up getting used by the RNA to replicate or contribute to increasing the size of the lipid bubble (by becoming trapped inside) simply leave via the same mechanism. A simple life form has formed. They have a simple metabolism, grow, and divide to produce daughter cells with shared genetic material from the original cell. They do not have any complex organelles, and depend upon their environment being stable to maintain their existence.
This has all been observed in lab, and I mostly am referencing the work of Jack Szostak.
1. Using models of ancient Earth conditions, simple sugars, amino acids, lipids, and nucleic acids are present and form naturally.
2. In the presence of energy (present on the ancient Earth in the forms of heat vents, and even lightening) promote these molecules to build up into larger, more complex molecules (the energy is not necessary for them to do so, it just makes the process faster). Nucleic acids form RNA, and some of these RNA molecules can and do independently replicate.
3. Lipids naturally form bilayers in liquid water (this is what cell membranes are). When these bubbles of lipids form, they capture molecules in the surrounding environment. They can also continue to capture molecules, eventually becoming larger and eventually dividing from the pressure into two lipid bubbles.
4. Lipid bubbles that capture RNA molecules that can replicate have the means to reproduce and pass down basic genetic material. Metabolism consists purely of the lipid bubble taking in molecules from its environment through diffusion (an unguided process), and molecules that don't end up getting used by the RNA to replicate or contribute to increasing the size of the lipid bubble (by becoming trapped inside) simply leave via the same mechanism. A simple life form has formed. They have a simple metabolism, grow, and divide to produce daughter cells with shared genetic material from the original cell. They do not have any complex organelles, and depend upon their environment being stable to maintain their existence.
This has all been observed in lab, and I mostly am referencing the work of Jack Szostak.
