7/21/2009
1
Elements, Compounds, & Reactions
All l d f
All
l
iving organisms are compose
d
o
f
cells, from just one to many trillions.
Is life a form of chemistry?
As you know, all living things are made
of cells, and a cell is the basic unit of life.
• But where did the first cells come from?
Adh didthi f lii t
•
A
n
d
,
h
ow
did
thi
ngs go
f
rom non
li
v
i
ng
t
o
living?
Well, in the 1950s, American scientist
Stanley Miller tried to find take
nonliving ingredients and make life!
Graduate student, Miller, at the
University of Chicago
Miller put the chemicals found in Earth’s early
atmosphere in a closed container and sent an
electric charge through that mixture to
simulate lightning going through the
atmosphere.
Perhaps, Miller suggested, this was how
organic compounds were made on the
ancient Earth before life existed.
Professor Miller at
UC San Diego
While Miller did not find a recipe for
making life, he DID make some amino
acids.
• Amino acids are the building blocks of
proteins—one of the compounds that make
u
p all living things.
