Abiogenesis
Definition
Abiogenesis is the process by which life arises naturally from non-living matter, such as simple organic compounds.
Analogy
Imagine you're baking cookies from scratch. You start with basic ingredients like flour and sugar (non-living matter), mix them together under certain conditions (like heat), and end up with something entirely new - cookies (life). That's similar to how abiogenesis works!
Related terms
Primordial Soup Theory: This theory suggests that life began in a warm pond or ocean as result of the combination of chemicals from the atmosphere and some form of energy to make amino acids, which would then evolve into all the species.
Miller-Urey Experiment: An experiment that simulated hypothetical conditions thought at the time to be present on early Earth to test if such conditions could lead to life.
Organic Compounds: Compounds containing carbon that are found in living organisms.
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