Concept in Definition ABC

The end of this post analyzes the origin of life with a approach experiment. It is a theoretical proposal made by the Russian biochemist Aleksander Oparin around 1930. According to his explanatory model, organic molecules originally organized spontaneously and formed systems with a certain individuality. At the same time, these molecules were able to exchange matter and Energy with the environment. This explanatory model of what could be the origin of life was called coacervates.

The theory of coacervates explains the origin of life on our planet

According to Oparin, life could have been produced because two conditions occurred on our planet. First of all, by the emergence spontaneous of some simple compounds of carbon; What protein, carbohydrates, lipids or nucleic acids or by the appearance of the units that make them up (for example, glucose or amino acids). On the other hand, Oparin maintained that the presence of different Energy sources, such as solar, ultraviolet or infrared radiation or

Volcanic eruptions (The energy sources came from the atmosphere or from inside the Earth).

Energy sources and carbon compounds were the biological foundation for their formation the primitive oceans, which presented a viscous and dense mass, with a density greater than that of the Water. Oparin called this dough "primitive soup" or "primordial broth".

The interaction of the different energy sources created the energy necessary for the different compounds to be able to join in a certain way. According to Oparin they were grouped as follows:

1) nucleic acids in the center,

2) these acids were surrounded by proteins and

3) the lipids surrounded the entire complex that was being configured. In this way the protomembranes were created, that is, the first substances essential for life. These steps are what define the coacervated theory. Therefore, a coacervate is a primitive cell or protocell made up of an aggregate of molecules. In other words, the emergence of these primitive cells was, according to Oparin's theory, the first evolutionary step that ultimately led to development and evolution of the different forms of life.

Obtaining coacervates in the laboratory

Oparin's proposal was nothing more than a theoretical model. However, two American scientists (Stanley Miller and Harold Clayton Urey) recreated in the laboratory conditions proposed by Oparin and obtained structures similar to those coacervates.

The theory of the coacervates is, in synthesis, a proposal that explains one of the enigmas of science, the origin of life.

Photos: Fotolia - Artyway / Jitka Laníková

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