Origin and Evolution of Life

Copyright 1992 Academic Press Limited All rights of reproduction in any form reserved 

Current evidence indicates that all major bodies in our solar system originated about the same time, approximately 4.6 Ga ago. The oldest rocks taken from the surface of the Moon and meteorites found on Earth are about 4.5 Ga old. The Moon, Mercury, Venus, and Mars have cratered surfaces that appear to be the result of the same type of meteoric activity that produced craters on Earth. The early atmosphere on Earth was probably similar to those found today on nearby planets on which life did not evolve. Hence, we can use information about those planets to help us infer the nature of the conditions on Earth under which life presumably evolved. 

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Chyba CF, Sagan C (1997) Comets as a Source of Prebiotic Organic Molecules for the Early Earth. In Thomas PI, Chyba CF, Me Kay CP (Eds.) Comets and the Origin and Evolution of Life. Springer, Berlin Heidelberg New York, p 147 Chyba CF (2005) Science 308 962 de Bergh C (1993) Orig Life Evol Biosphere 23 12... 

The interest in mineral-promoted organic reactions stems from the need to understand the fate of pesticides in soils and pollutants in sedimentary environments (8), petrogenesis (20-27), humification (19, 28, 29), the origin and evolution of life (1, 30), the use of clays as catalysts in industrial processes (31-37), in pharmaceutical applications (3), and as pigments and fillers in paper, plastic, and rubber (37). 

Kissel, J. Krueger, F. R. Roessler, K. Organic Chemistry in Comets from Remote and In Situ Observations in Comets and the Origin and Evolution of Life Thomas, J. P., Chyba, C. F. and McKay, C Ed. Springer New York, New York, 1997, pp 69-109. 

C. De Duve, Vital Dust. The Origin and Evolution of Life on Earth, Perseus Books Group, 1995. 

Schwabe, C. (2001). The Genomic Potential Hypothesis, a Chemist s View on the Origin and Evolution of Life. Landes Bioscience. 

It should be stressed that the most widely accepted models of the origin and evolution of life are based on the concept of self-assembling molecular systems. The models rooted in information theory involve [17] ... 

Exploring catalytic RNAs has provided new insights into catalytic function in general and has important implications for our understanding of the origin and evolution of life on this planet, a topic discussed in Section 26.3. 

Matsuno K (2000) In Akaboshi M, Fujii N, Navarro-Gonzales R (eds) The role of radiation in the origin and evolution of life. Kyoto University Press, Kyoto, pp 9-24... 

Zhao Y-F, Cao P-S (1996) In Chela-Flores J, Raulin F (eds) Chemical Evolution Physics of the Origin and Evolution of Life (Proceedings of the 4th Trieste Conference on Chemical Evolution, Trieste, Sept. 4-8, 1995). Kluwer, Dordrecht, p 279... 

Committee on the Limits of Organic Life in Planetary Systems Committee on the Origins and Evolution of Life... 

Dr. Szostak is a member of the National Academy of Sciences and a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. He has served as the co-chair of two NRC committees the Origins and Evolution of Life in the Universe and the Astrophysical Context of Life. 

Root-Bernstein, R.S. and Dillon, P.F. 1997. Molecular complementarity, I The complementarity theory of the origin and evolution of life. Journal of Theoretical Biology, 188,447-479. 

The most plausible current models for the origin and evolution of life revolve around self-assembling molecular systems Order begot order from chaos [19, 20], These models have the following features ... 

H7. Harman, D., Free radical theory of aging Role of free radicals in the origination and evolution of life aging and disease process. In Aging and Degenerative Disease Processes. Alan R. Liss, New York, 1996. 

Moorbath, S. Kamber, B. S. 1998. Re-appraisal of the age of the oldest water-lain sediments. West Greenland. In Chela-Flores, J. Raulin, F. (eds) Exobiology Matter, Energy and Information in the Origin and Evolution of Life in the Universe. Kluwer Academic, Dordrecht, 81-86. 

The Limits of Organic Life in Planetary Systems, Committee on the Limits of Organic Life in Planetary Systems, Committee on the Origins and Evolution of Life. National Research Council, Washington, DC, 2007. www.nap.edu/catalog/11919.html... 

We can consider how the cosmos itself is well fitted for the origin and evolution of life. I will discuss how the combined approaches of philosophy, science, and ultimately natural theology can help us to begin to discuss the intelligibility of the universe in a rational way. Care is needed in addressing the right questions within their corresponding cultural domains. 

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