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Question
What is the composition of the "primordial soup"?
British biologist J.B.S. Haldane and Soviet biologist Alexander Oparin developed a model which characterized the primitive oceans of Earth as a dilute organic broth or a "primordial soup". It is theorized to contain dissolved minerals, and a myriad of small organic (carbon-containing) molecules such as lipids, organic acids, and carbohydrates. On primitive Earth, chemical reactions that require energy could have obtained it from many diverse sources: the planet's magnetoshpere, ultraviolet radiation from the sun, lightning discharges, localized geothermal heat sources, radioactive decay, or meteorite impacts. With these available energy sources and an abundance of raw organic materials in a dispersive, fluid medium, the primordial soup, “life” was able to find a way to harness the energy and use it to do work with raw materials for the benefit of growth and reproduction.
October 30, 2001
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