Module 4

Introduction to Life Science

By the end of this module the learners must demonstrate an understanding of:

1. Explain the evolving concept of life based on emerging pieces of evidence

2. Describe how unifying themes (e.g., structure and function, evolution, and
ecosystems) in the study of life show the connections among living things and
how they interact with each other and with their environment

THE EARLY LIFE

Origin of the Universe and Earth

According to the big bang theory, the universe began in a single instant, about
13 to 15 billion years ago. In that instant, all existing matter and energy suddenly
appeared and exploded outward from a single point. Simple elements such as
hydrogen and helium formed within minutes. Then, over millions of years, gravity drew
the gases together and they condensed to form giant stars.

Explosion from these early stars scattered heavier elements from which today’s
galaxies are formed. 5 billion years ago, a cloud of dust and rocks (asteroids) orbited
the star that we now call our sun. The asteroids collided and merged into bigger
asteroids. The heavier these pre-planetary objects became, the more gravitational pull
they exerted, and the more material they gathered. By about 4.6 billion years ago, this
gradual buildup of materials had formed Earth and the other planets in the solar
system.

Conditions of the Early Earth

Planet formation did not remove all the material orbiting the sun, so the early
Earth received a constant hail of meteorites and was struck by many asteroids. This
extraterrestrial material, along with substances released by frequent volcanic eruptions,
provided components of Earth’s land, seas and atmosphere.

ORGANIC MONOMERS FORM

Organic Molecules from Inorganic Precursors

In 1925, a chemist synthesized urea, an organic molecule abundant in urine.

Later, another chemist synthesized alanine, an amino acid. These synthesis reactions
showed organic molecules could be formed by nonliving processes unlike what was
believed until the early 1900s that organic molecules possessed a special “vital force”
and that living organisms could make them.

Sources of Life’s First Building Blocks (3 main hypothesis)

1. Lightning-fueled Atmospheric Reactions – Stanley Miller and Harold Urey in

1953 tested this hypothesis that lightning could have powered synthesis
reactions in Earth’s early atmosphere. They filled a reaction chamber with
methane, ammonia, and hydrogen gas, and zapped it with sparks from
electrodes. After a week, a variety of organic materials were observed
including amino acids that are common in living things.
2. Reactions at Hydrothermal Vents – synthesis of life’s building blocks occurred
at deep-sea hydrothermal vents (an underwater geyser), a place where
mineral-rich water heated by geothermal energy streams out through a rocky
opening in the seafloor.
3. Delivery from Space – Modern-day meteorites that fall to Earth sometimes
contain amino acids, sugars and nucleotide bases and these compounds (or
precursors of them) have been discovered in gas clouds surrounding nearby
stars. Thus it is possible that some of the many meteorites that fell on the early
Earth carried organic monomers that had formed in outer space.
The Three Experiments used to test out Life
1. ELECTRICAL DISCHARGE EXPERIMENT

Stanley Miller and Harold Urey verified the primordial soup theory by simulating the
formation of organic molecules on the early Earth. They confined methane, ammonia,
water, and hydrogen in a closed system and applied continuous electrical sparks to
trigger the formation of the building blocks of life. After a day, they observed a change
of color in the solution. After a week, the solution was tested, and they found out that
several amino acids were produced. The purpose of this experiment was not to try and
produce amino acids, rather, its purpose was to explore the conditions of the early Earth
and what the naturally occurring results would be.

2. THERMAL SYNTHESIS
Sidney Fox demonstrated in his experiment the origin of life using a specific mixture of
pure, dry amino acids. In his experiment, after heating the mixture, an aqueous solution
was formed and cooled into microscopic globules called protenoid microspheres.
The globules looked like coccoid bacteria and seemed to be budding, which is a form
of reproduction in some microorganisms.

3. THE PROTOCELL EXPERIMENT

Jack Szostak contemplated on how early life forms formed in a primordial chemical
environment. He then thought that the simplest possible living cells or protocells just
required two components to be formed:
o A nucleic acid genome to transmit the genetic information and a lipid sac
which encapsulated the genome and let itself grow and divide.
He found out that lipid sacs with more RNA grew faster. He suggested that such test tube
evolution was possible. The results suggested that the early forms of life with just a single
gene, an RNA gene, could have undergone a Darwinian evolution.

LIFE’S EARLY EVOLUTION

The Common Ancestors of All Life

Analysis of modern genomes tells us that all living species are descended
from the same cell, and that this cell may have lived as early as 4 billion years
ago. Most scientists assume that all living species’ common ancestor was
prokaryotic (did not have a nucleus). Oxygen was scarce on the early Earth, so
the ancestral cell must also have been anaerobic (capable of living without
oxygen)

Oldest Fossil Cells

The divergence that separated the two prokaryotic domains, Bacteria

and Archaea, occurred very early in the history of life, and no fossils from before
the divergence have been discovered. At present, the oldest proposed cell
microfossils are filaments from 3.5 billion year old rocks in Western Australia. These
filaments resemble modern photosynthetic bacteria.

Changes in the Air

Many types of bacteria carry out photosynthesis, but only one group, the
cyanobacteria, do so by an oxygen-producing pathway. Evolution of these
oxygen-producing photosynthesis in cyanobacteria had a dramatic effect on
early life. The increase in oxygen led to the formation of the ozone layer which
allowed life to move onto land.

Rise of Eukaryotes

Eukaryotic cells are generally larger than prokaryotic cells. Steroids that
are found in eukaryotic cells are found in ancient rocks suggest that eukaryotes
have arisen as early as 2.7 billion years ago. However, the oldest microfossils that
most scientists agree are fossil of eukaryotes date about 1.8 billion years ago.
 Protists, being the first eukaryotes and the oldest eukaryotic fossils that we can
assign to a modern group are a type of red algae.

ORIGIN AND EVOLUTION OF EUKARYOTES

Origin of the Nucleus

The nucleus and endomembrane system probably evolved when plasma

membrane of an ancestral prokaryote folded inward.

Origin of Mitochondria and Chloroplast

According to the endosymbiont hypothesis, the mitochondria and

chloroplast evolved from bacteria. The process began when bacteria were
taken up or invaded a host cell then replicated inside it. When the host cell
divided, it passed some “guest” cells (endosymbionts) along to its offspring.
Eventually, the host and endosymbionts lost enough duplicated genes to
become incapable of living independently. At that point, the endosymbionts
had evolved into organelles.

Eukaryotic Divergence

Eukaryotic cells had a nucleus, endomembrane system, mitochondria

and, in some lineages, a chloroplast. These cells were the first protists. Over time,
their many descendants came to include the modern protists lineages, as well as
plants, fungi and animals.

The characteristics/ properties of life are the following:

i. High degree of organization

ii. Evolutionary adaptation/ evolution and adaptation
iii. Regulation and Homeostasis
iv. Energy Processing/ Acquisition and use of energy
v. Growth and Development
vi. Response to the environment/ Ability to respond to stimuli
vii. Reproduction
viii. Diversity and Unity

FORMS AND FUNCTIONS

The function of an organism or a part of an organism greatly depends on

its form and structure. It is related to how it works.
An example of this is the webbed foot of a duck which helps the
duck swim and search for their food under water. Others birds have
different structures of feet used for perching and grasping food.

REPRODUCTION AND INHERITANCE

Reproduction ensures the survival of species. All living organisms
reproduce either through asexual or sexual reproduction.
In asexual reproduction, the offspring inherits the genes from a single
parent.

Some examples of animals that undergo asexual reproduction include

earthworms, hydra, planaria, and bacteria.
Animals that undergo sexual reproduction include some reptiles, fishes,
insects, and mammals.
However in sexual reproduction, the offspring inherit the genes from two
individual parents.
 ENERGY AND LIFE

Living organisms obtain energy from the food they eat. Plants undergo
photosynthesis where they convert the energy from the sun into sugar.
Since most of the animals cannot produce their own energy, they get the
energy from the consumption and assimilation of the biomass of plants and
other animals.

THERMAL REGULATION
Living organisms maintain a certain temperature to regulate heat in their
body which is essential for survival. All living organisms as well maintain
homeostasis which is an ability to maintain a relatively stable internal state
that persists despite changes in the world outside.

ADAPTATION AND EVOLUTION

In a world that is continuously changing, life itself evolves. Evolution is the

change in the physical and heritable traits of organisms over successive
generations. Organisms change over time to acclimate to their
environment in order to survive. If they fail to adapt to the changes, they
usually become extinct.
ADAPTATION AND EVOLUTION
The Baiji white dolphin, for example, became extinct due to diminished
food supply and in addition to that, the pollution caused by human
activities.
One contemporary example of adaptation is the Aedes aegypti or the
mosquito famous for carrying dengue that caused major outbreaks
nationwide. Their eggs were able to survive with scarce or no rainwater
which is essential to their life cycle.
Evolution takes time, usually decades. However, there are times when
change happens very rapidly. One example is the blue moon butterfly that
managed to undergo a mutation which allows the males to survive an
infection of a parasite.

CHARACTERISTICS OF LIVING THINGS

All living things share life processes such as growth and reproduction. Most
scientists use seven life processes or characteristics to determine whether
something is living or non-living.

The table below describes seven characteristics of most living things and
contains references to earthworms to explain why we can definitely say
that they are 'living'.

Life process Explanation Earthworms

Movement All living things move in some way. Earthworms use circular and longitudinal
This may be obvious, such as muscles to move through soil or along surfaces.
animals that are able to walk, or
less obvious, such as plants that
have parts that move to track the
movement of the sun.
Respiration Respiration is a chemical The food that earthworms eat supplies their
reaction that happens within cells body with energy-rich molecules such
to release energy from food. as glucose. On entering the cells of their body,
these molecules are broken down in a series of
steps to release energy to be used by the
body, producing carbon dioxide and water as
waste products.
Sensitivity The ability to detect changes in the Earthworms have light-sensitive cells scattered
surrounding environment. in their outer skin. Their skin cells are also
sensitive to touch and chemicals.
Growth All living things grow. Earthworms hatch from eggs and can grow up
to a metre or more in length! Some
earthworms are also able to regrow small parts
of their body that have been lost or injured.
Reproduction The ability to reproduce and Earthworms have both sperm and eggs within
pass genetic information onto their their bodies (they are hermaphrodites) but
offspring. they cannot self-fertilise and need to mate
with another individual. After mating, a
cocoon containing the fertilized eggs is
deposited in the soil.
Excretion Getting rid of waste. Earthworms excrete waste from their anus – the
last segment of their body.
Nutrition The intake and use of nutrients. This Earthworm nutrition comes from a variety of
occurs in very different ways in sources, depending on their species. Food
different kinds of living things. types include manure, compost, plant
material, fungi, microorganisms and decaying
animals. They take in food through their
mouths.
 Activity 4

ESSAY:

1. Which of the three experiments is the most plausible in determining the

origin of life? Why?
2. Look around you and identify the living organisms that surround you. What
makes them similar to one another? What makes them different?

Rubrics for Essays

Criteria Excellent Good Satisfactory Need improvement

4 3 2 1

(10) (9-7) (6-4) (3-1)

Relevanc The topic presented is The topic The topic presented The topic presented is
e highly relevant to the presented has has relevance most of misleading.
topic being asked relevance to the time.
the topic given

Clear idea The thoughts of the topic The thoughts of The thoughts of the The thoughts of the
presented is clearly the topic topic presented is clear topic presented is
defined and well presented is but sometimes ambiguous or no
delivered clear confusing thoughts at all.

Easily Terminologies of the topic Terminologies Terminologies of the Terminologies of the

understa presented can be easily of the topic topic presented is topic presented is
nd understood and presented is understood but need unfamiliar
comprehend easily some guidance
understood

Significan The topic being presented The topic being The topic being The topic being
t Impact can relate to experiences presented have presented has presented has no
of day to day life with significant significant impact but significant impact to the
significant impact to the impact to day sometimes misleading day to day life of the
audience to day life of audience
the audience