BIOLOGY 1A03 Chapter Notes - Chapter 3: Macromolecule, Chemical Evolution, Stanley Miller

• School: McMaster University
• Department: Biology
• Course: BIOLOGY 1A03
• Professor: George Donaldson

Document Summary

Stanley miller conducted experiments where he created basic building blocks (h2co + hcn) of life under conditions of the early earth. Sparks + heating lead to synthesis of compounds that are the building blocks of proteins: amino acids. His perspective was that the building blocks were created in the atmosphere. His results and those of other subsequent researchers supported chemical evolution. He concluded that chemical evolution occurs readily if simple molecules with high energy are exposed to a source of ke. Building block components from deep within ocean (underwater volcanoes) Boiling hot water mixes with simple carbon and nitrogen- containing molecules and metal ions. Building block components from outer space; extra terrestrial. Meteorites that have struck earth recently contain amino acids (suggests building block components produced from outer space and entered earth through meteorites. A carbon bonded to: amino group (nh2), carboxyl group (cooh), a hydrogen, and an side chain (r group).