Could the basic building blocks of living organisms arise from the conditions of the early Earth environment?
Stanley Miller, a graduate student at the University of Chicago designed an experiment to discover if the environment of the early Earth could produce the basic elements of living organisms. In his closed system apparatus, Miller filled a vessel with the gases that formed the atmosphere (methane, ammonia, nitrogen, and water vapor) in proportions that were likely present when the earth was very young. The gases were subjected to electrical sparks of 60,000 volts, to simulate lightning and ultraviolet energy, while circulating over the surface of a warm pool of water. Miller found that after 24 hours, half of the carbon that was originally in the methane gas had been converted to amino acids and other organic molecules. The experiment showed that some of the key instruments of life forms could be formed from the inorganic conditions and energy sources present in the early Earth. However, the organic molecules produced in Miller’s experiment are quite basic compared to the first living c
