The reading concentrates the focus on 'primordial soup' - a classic
experiment concocting a hodgepodge of chemical solution aimed to demystify
the origin of life. The experiment is divided into several procedures. The
architects of this project, Miller and his graduate advisor Urey, fisrt
simulate conditions resembling those in the atmosphere and subjecting these
jumbled chemicals to electrical charges. After weeks of chemical synergism,
the solution turn black brown from orange, and within the liquids are
identified amino acids - the very basic building blocks of living organisms.
These laboratory - made amino acids, enriched by the additional ones released
from the early meteor impacts, are probably the very keys to unlock the
conundrum of genesis.
According to the lecture, nontheless, recent researches have posed
chanllenges to th discovery that supposedly unveils how life begins. The first
scientific stone thrown at the Miller-Urey's primordial theory is the supply
of electrical energy. It is argued that the electrical storms seen
primordially might not happen so frequently, and thus might fail to unleash
continuous and copious electrical charges similar to those artificially
achieved in the laboratory. Another challenge rise when referring to the
quantity of amino acids derived from the chemical concoction: these
life-forming blocks granted by Nature's life-forming hand may lag far behind
in number. Last but not the least, it is also brought up that the amino acids
- or many other organic compounds - might have been released from the
hammerings of meteors or springing from the pre-life earth. The primordial
soup theory, therefore, might not be termed the biological Holy Grail just yet.
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