Orgins

Front 1

Chemosynthetic Bacteria

Back 1

bacteria that obtain energy required for metabolic processes from exothermic oxidation of inorganic or simple organic compounds without the aid of light

Front 2

microspheres

Back 2

a spherical shell that is usually made of a biodegradable or resorbable plastic polymer, that has a very small diameter usually in the micron or nanometer range, and that is often filled with a substance (as a drug or antibody) for release as the shell is degraded

Front 3

coacervates

Back 3

(proto-cells) polypeptides, nucleic acids (DNA, RNA), polysaccharides (polymerized sugars)--they self-assemble into a cell-like object; when an enzyme is inserted the coacervates take those enzymes into themselves, the enzymes work and the molecular tool (the enzyme) has gotten us really close to something we may call living

Front 4

proteinoids

Back 4

any of various polypeptides which can be obtained by suitable polymerization of mixtures of amino acids Edit Heterotrophic requiring complex organic compounds of nitrogen and carbon (as that obtained from plant or animal matter) for metabolic synthesis

Front 5

heterotrophic

Back 5

requiring complex organic compounds of nitrogen and carbon (as that obtained from plant or animal matter) for metabolic synthesis

Front 6

ribozyme

Back 6

a molecule of RNA that functions as an enzyme (as by catalyzing the cleavage of other RNA molecules)

Front 7

photosynthetic

Back 7

capable of achieving photosynthesis, the process of producing energy from sunlight; the actual process is synthesis of chemical compounds with the aid of light sometimes including the near infrared or near ultraviolet; especially : the formation of carbohydrates from carbon dioxide and a source of hydrogen (as water) in chlorophyll-containing cells (as of green plants) exposed to light involving a photochemical release of oxygen through the decomposition of water followed by various enzymatic synthetic reactions that usually do not require the presence of light

Front 8

stromatolites

Back 8

ttached, lithified sedimentary growth structures, accretionary away from a point or limited surface of initiation. A variety of stromatolite morphologies exist including conical, stratiform, branching, domal, and columnar types. Stromatolites are commonly thought to have been formed by the trapping, binding, and cementation of sedimentary grains by microorganisms, especially cyanobacteria (formerly known as blue-green algae).

Front 9

prokaryotic

Back 9

organisms containing cells without nuclei And membrane-bound organelles. ex. kingdom of monera

Front 10

protobionts

Back 10

an aggregate of abiotically produced organic molecules, that has been demonstrated to be formed by self assembly. They do not reproduce, and are unlikely to be able to maintain homeostasis but are able to maintain an internal chemical environment that differs from its external environment. It has been suggested that they are a key step in the origin of life on earth. Experiments by Sidney W. Fox and Aleeksandr Oparin have demonstrate that they may be formed spontaneously, in conditions much like what the early Earth is thought to have been like. These experiments formed liposomes and microspheres, which have membrane structure similar to the phospholipid bilayer found in cells.

Front 11

liposomes

Back 11

an artificial vesicle that is composed of one or more concentric phospholipid bilayers and is used especially to deliver microscopic substances (as DNA or drugs) to body cells

Front 12

eukaryotic

Back 12

organisms constituted of cells with nuclei and membrane-bound organelles. ex. all other kingdoms (animal, plant, protist, fungi)

Front 13

chemosynthetic

Back 13

synthesis of organic compounds (as in living cells) by energy derived from chemical reactions

Front 14

autotrophic

Back 14

needing only carbon dioxide or carbonates as a source of carbon and a simple inorganic nitrogen compound for metabolic synthesis

Front 15

introns

Back 15

a polynucleotide sequence in a nucleic acid that does not code information for protein synthesis and is removed before translation of messenger RNA OR Segments of DNA that don't carry any instructions for protein making

Front 16

exons

Back 16

a polynucleotide sequence in a nucleic acid that codes information for protein synthesis and that is copied and spliced together with other such sequences to form messenger RNA

Front 17

Exon Theory of Genes

Back 17

Theory of Genes a theory that holds that introns are extremely ancient characteristics of genes and that early genes were created through the intron-mediated shuffling of exons. The theory has existed since the late seventies.

Front 18

Primordial

Back 18

earliest formed in the growth of an individual or organ (we use it to say "primordial soup," which is the supposed liquid of oxygen, nitrogen, carbon and hydrogen + possibly sulfur that existed in the early earth, and then interacted with clay)