What is Biogenesis?
What caused living organisms to come into being? Many scientists have tried to discover the answer to the mystery of life’s origins through studying the processes of biogenesis.
In 1952, scientists demonstrated how amino acids could emerge from ammonia, hydrogen, methane and water. However, while amino acid formation is easy, building proteins is practically impossible if left to chance chemical reactions.
What is the Principle of Biogenesis?
The principle of Biogenesis can be understood as the notion that life can only come from other life. Meaning, any living organism must owe its existence to another living organism. This principle can ultimately aid in scientific postulations about the origins of life on earth.
What is the Difference Between Spontaneous Generation and Biogenesis?
Much of contemporary scientific theory regarding the origins of life can be separated into Abiogenesis, or Spontaneous Generation, and Biogenesis. Unlike Biogenesis, Abiogenesis contends that the origins of life may have come from nonliving things. An important thing to note however, is that the hypotheses put forward by Abiogenesis have not been proven through scientific experimentation whereas the hypotheses of Biogenesis have been proven through continual scientific experiments and research.
In the video above, Dr. Paul Davies suggests that the answer to biogenesis lies not only in chemistry, but also in information.
Learn more about Paul Davies’s work towards discovering the mystery of life.
