Part 6 - The First Replicators

So what were the early seas like? They were thick, with various chemical compounds and less salty. They had no life in them, only simple chemicals, other molecules and weren't as clear as the seas we have today. Of course there was no life in the seas as there was no life on earth then.

Not long after these seas were formed, the chemistry that was taking place between the different elements and simple chemical compounds formed more complicated molecules, which can still be found today - amino acids. These are the building blocks of all the different proteins that make up the bodies of humans, plants and animals.

Amino acids are made up of basic carbon, hydrogen, oxygen and nitrogen. They're like the earlier chemical compounds, only more complex, coming together naturally when the conditions are right, as hydrogen and oxygen did, combining in a relationship that gave us water.

Now these molecules got bigger and more complex in their organisation and some of these molecules found that they had an effect on other smaller molecules or parts of molecules around them. Atoms and pieces of organic molecules lined up next to the section of those large molecules they had the greatest affinity for. The molecules which have this ability are called replicators, producing either copies of themselves or mirror image of themselves, made up of different atoms which were most attracted to them.

These early atoms and molecules joined in every possible way they could, given their circumstances, some groupings becoming very stable while others unstable. The stable molecules would continue to exist and the unstable ones would break up, their atoms being used to make up the stable molecules. Meaning there were no more unstable groupings.

So molecules able to replicate themselves formed an increasingly large population of the total population of molecules in the sea. There were always new types of molecules, faster replicators, better replicators, more stable replicators.

Now, a new major characteristic came along to aid the survival of these molecules - the ability by some molecules to break up other existing molecules into their basic parts to further their own purposes. Now this in turn led to some molecules developing a protection against these predator molecules. They developed a covering which would isolate them from the surrounding environment and protect them from the predator molecules. These molecules, being able to protect themselves, developed into larger and more complex forms.

Which brings us to the first one celled living organisms...

Part 5 - The Beginning of Chemistry

So, living on the surface of the earth, belies what's taking place far below. Just like life itself. Something so obvious in our daily lives may turn out totally different when viewed from a broader perspective.

The earth at this stage was still very hot and highly pressurised. In its crust & in between the crust and the molten core, atoms in the form of gases were trapped, such as carbon, hydrogen, oxygen and nitrogen. When these gases travelled through space, they had remained separate, but now they're forced together in a closed environment to form new relationships. Once again, the environment determines what can take place. So the gases combine into new relationships with other gases, eg, instead of hydrogen and oxygen gas existing as separate elements, they now combine to form water vapour - two atoms of hydrogen linking up with one atom of oxygen =

H₂0. The other gases present, carbon (C), nitrogen (N) also formed simple molecules, ammonia (NH₃), methane (CH<sub>4). This is the beginning of CHEMISTRY.

These four gases, carbon, hydrogen, nitrogen, oxygen and their compounds such as water, ammonia and methane were the main components of our planet's early atmosphere and greatly changed the surface of the earth. Much of the atmosphere was water vapour and this caused torrential rains to fall onto the colling but still vey hot surface of earth. The water would fall, only to evaporate again and this went on for millions of years. This rain contained various other chemical compounds including newly formed acids and through erosion and corrosion, some of the surface rock began to break up and the water was washed down to lower lying areas, forming seas. The early seas were nothing like what we have today - it was thick, with various chemical compounds and had no life in them whatsoever. And certainly nowhere near as clear as the seas of today.</sub>

So you see how life began through laws of physics and moved on to chemistry. They're not separate but part of the same process.

Stay tuned for more development.