BIOL 1000 Lecture Notes - Lecture 17: Stromatolite, Uracil, Archaea
16 May 2016
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Chapter 3 defining life and its origins. Viruses have dna and rna (nucleic acids), but lack cellular machinery and metabolism to use that genetic information to synthesize their own proteins. A termite"s nest is called a cathedral. Life may have started as early as 4 billion years ago. On a year scale, humans would emerge on 12/31 at 11:43 pm. All forms of life are composed of the major macromolecules and nucleic acids. Reducing atmosphere, deep-sea vents and extraterrestrial origins are hypotheses as to how macros came to be. Protobiont is the term given to a group of abiotically produced organic molecules that are surrounded by a membrane or membraneike structure. Ribozymes can catalyze reactions on the precursor rna molecules that lead to their own synthesis, as well as on unrelated rna molecules. Each strand of dna is chemically more stable/less likely to degrade than rna strands. The base uracil found in rna is not found in dna.
