Question

Abiogenesis means
(a) Origin of life from non-living substances
(b) Origin of life from living organisms
(c) Origin of viruses and microbes
(d) None of the above

Answer 1

Hint: Abiogenesis is an evolutionary theory. Through an experiment, Stanley Miller was able to prove this theory. This experiment provided sufficient evidence to the theory of abiogenesis that many molecular structures found in cells could be created from inorganic substances by providing energy.

Complete answer:
Abiogenesis is the formation of organic molecules through non-living or inorganic substances. This theory became more famous when Miller conducted an experiment. In this experiment, he combined several gases that were known to exist in the environment of the primitive earth. These all gases were combined in a chamber and constant electricity was passed through electrodes. After the experiment, Miller analyzed the sample and found that certain molecules combined to form more complex molecules. He theorized that over the years the molecules could combine into self-replicating versions: for example DNA and RNA.
Due to advancements in technology over the period of time this experiment was done precisely again.

Additional information:
According to scientists, the first self-replicating molecule was RNA. RNA molecules are known to have self catalyzing power through which they can form new RNA molecules. One of the earliest RNA molecules formed another RNA molecule that was identical to it and the concentration of this molecule increased in the prebiotic soup. This molecule interacted with itself and some proteins formed around it through abiogenesis. Due to mutation proteins were synthesized which formed DNA from RNA and thus the first genome of the modern organism was formed.

So, the correct answer is ‘Origin of life from non-living substances’.

Note:
Thomas Henry Huxley given the term abiogenesis. Louis Pasteur is attributed with definitively disproving the theory of spontaneous generation with his well known swan-neck flask experiment. He eventually suggested that “life only comes from life.”