Scientists Propose New Hypothesis as to How Life Began

The classic Miller-Urey explanation for life's origin is losing favor.

SUMMARY: The classic idea as to how life originated on earth was the Miller-Urey experiment conducted in 1953 by chemists Stanley Miller and Harold Urey. They proposed a vision of the early atmosphere that they thought was capable of producing the amino acids which are the building blocks of life.

Now, more than 55 years later, two scientists have come up with a new hypothesis. Armen Mulkidjanian from Germany and Michael Galperin from the U.S. in two papers published on the Web site Biology Direct are suggesting that life originated in porous structures made of zinc sulfide (phosphor). Under the pressure of a carbon-dioxide-dominated atmosphere, zinc sulfide structures on the surface of continents would have access to sunlight and UV radiation which these scientists think could actually have helped life to develop.

In their experiment, Miller and Urey assumed the early Earth had a reducing atmosphere (having large amounts of hydrogen and almost no oxygen) and lightning capable of creating amino acids. Many scientists now have abandoned that notion and have suggested the early atmosphere instead had a neutral atmosphere composed mainly of carbon dioxide with smaller amounts of nitrogen and hydrogen, an atmosphere similar to that of Mars and Venus.

However, researchers who have repeated the Miller-Urey experiment including Miller have shown that using the new atmospheric assumptions, amino acids cannot be produced. In an atmosphere of carbon dioxide, Mulkidjanian says "there was no physically or chemically plausible hypothesis of the origin of life." Living organisms need some form of energy flow--solar radiation or chemical reactions, for example. An atmosphere of carbon dioxide would need a source of electrons to reduce the carbon dioxide in order to make complex compounds.

In Mulkidjanian's "Zn world" hypothesis, zinc sulfide plays a major role. Zinc sulfide particles have the ability to store light energy which makes zinc sulfide popular in modern devices such as television displays. Illuminated by UV light, zinc sulfide can efficiently reduce carbon dioxide, just as plants do. The two researchers found high levels of zinc in proteins with DNA and RNA molecules, evidence, they say, that the first life forms evolved in a zinc-rich environment.

NASA astrobiologist Max Bernstein though urges caution. He says he cannot say whether or not the new model will be adopted and expects that many will want to see experimental evidence.

To read the entire article, click on this link to LIVE SCIENCE.

COMMENT: As I see it, there are two relevant lessons in this story. First, we again see how shaky are hypotheses that try to explain what may have happened in nature supposedly billions of years ago when nobody was around. The original Miller-Urey experiment has been touted as practically unassailable proof that life could evolve without any divine assistance. Now that hypothesis is being discarded. (For a more-detailed creationist view of the Miller-Urey experiment click on this link to ICR.) Even the new theory about a zinc sulfide atmosphere is obviously not getting universal support.

The second lesson one can learn from this story is that secular scientists are really still a long way away from explaining the origin of life. For a cell to be considered a living cell, it must be able to replicate or reproduce, and information has to be able to be passed from mother cell to daughter cell. There wasn't even a hint in this story that scientists really have any idea how evolution can account for the origin of the first living cell.

The law of biogenesis (life can only come from life) still is very much of a valid theory. God, of course, is the source of life. We appreciate the fact that He gave life to all the living organisms during the week of creation and provided each with the ability to reproduce after their respective kinds so that life could be passed on down from generation to generation

A more important consideration is that only our God can give eternal life. Believers in Jesus as their Savior from sin are assured of eternal life in heaven. This has nothing to do with science. It has everything to do with the inerrant Word of our Creator God.

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QUESTION OF THE DAY

What is the top wind speed ever recorded?

A May, 1999 tornado in Oklahoma produced a wind speed of 318 mph. On April 12, 1934, Mount Washington, New Hampshire experienced what probably was the fastest straight wind speed ever recorded, 231 mph. For the sake of comparison, the planet Neptune's winds can reach 900 mph.

Source: www.livescience.com