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[[File:Phylogenetic.png|332x332px|Figure 1. The traditional stepped view of the ''tree of life''.|alt=Phylogenetic Tree|thumb]]'''''We are all more closely related than you think.''''' '''Your DNA is 99.9% similar any other human, 96% the same as a chimpanzee and 90% the same as a cat.''' '''The differences between species is more of a curve than it is a | [[File:Phylogenetic.png|332x332px|Figure 1. The traditional stepped view of the ''tree of life''.|alt=Phylogenetic Tree|thumb]]'''''We are all more closely related than you think.''''' '''Your DNA is 99.9% similar any other human, 96% the same as a chimpanzee and 90% the same as a cat.''' '''The differences between species is more of a curve than it is a definitive step (Figure 1).''' | ||
Traditionally life has been portrayed | Traditionally the development of life has been portrayed in stages. Life was once one thing (the ''Root'') and through fits and starts came into being as A(us - the most complex forms of life on the planet.) and B, C, D and E <ref>https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/not_my_circus,_not_my_monkeys#:~:text=(colloquial)%20It's%20none%20of%20my,a%20volatile%20or%20delicate%20situation.</ref>. But the '''''root''''' has always posed a problem for scientists.''Where did it come from?'' ''Was it the chicken or the egg first?'' | ||
Life is thought to have started from simple inorganic molecules<ref>Dodd, Matthew S.; Papineau, Dominic; Grenne, Tor; Slack, John F.; Rittner, Martin; Pirajno, Franco; O'Neil, Jonathan; Little, Crispin T.S. (1 March 2017). "Evidence for early life in Earth's oldest hydrothermal vent precipitates". ''Nature''. '''543''' (7643): 60–64. Bibcode:2017Natur.543...60D. doi:10.1038/nature21377. <nowiki>PMID 28252057</nowiki>. Archived from the original on 8 September 2017. Retrieved 2 March 2017.</ref><ref>Witzany, Guenther (2016). "Crucial steps to life: From chemical reactions to code using agents" (PDF). ''BioSystems''. '''140''': 49–57. doi:10.1016/j.biosystems.2015.12.007. <nowiki>PMID 26723230</nowiki>.</ref> which interacted to make other molecules which could replicate themselves. Imagine, the simplest thing that can replicate itself, however, every billion replications an error occurs making a new type of replicant which then over time repeats this process. Add a dash of evolution and a [[Long collective history|billion years]] later you get life... | Life is thought to have started from simple inorganic molecules<ref>Dodd, Matthew S.; Papineau, Dominic; Grenne, Tor; Slack, John F.; Rittner, Martin; Pirajno, Franco; O'Neil, Jonathan; Little, Crispin T.S. (1 March 2017). "Evidence for early life in Earth's oldest hydrothermal vent precipitates". ''Nature''. '''543''' (7643): 60–64. Bibcode:2017Natur.543...60D. doi:10.1038/nature21377. <nowiki>PMID 28252057</nowiki>. Archived from the original on 8 September 2017. Retrieved 2 March 2017.</ref><ref>Witzany, Guenther (2016). "Crucial steps to life: From chemical reactions to code using agents" (PDF). ''BioSystems''. '''140''': 49–57. doi:10.1016/j.biosystems.2015.12.007. <nowiki>PMID 26723230</nowiki>.</ref> which interacted to make other molecules which could replicate themselves. Imagine, the simplest thing that can replicate itself, however, every billion replications an error occurs making a new type of replicant which then over time repeats this process. Add a dash of evolution and a [[Long collective history|billion years]] later you get life... | ||
Revision as of 09:33, 27 May 2022
We are all more closely related than you think. Your DNA is 99.9% similar any other human, 96% the same as a chimpanzee and 90% the same as a cat. The differences between species is more of a curve than it is a definitive step (Figure 1).
Traditionally the development of life has been portrayed in stages. Life was once one thing (the Root) and through fits and starts came into being as A(us - the most complex forms of life on the planet.) and B, C, D and E [1]. But the root has always posed a problem for scientists.Where did it come from? Was it the chicken or the egg first?
Life is thought to have started from simple inorganic molecules[2][3] which interacted to make other molecules which could replicate themselves. Imagine, the simplest thing that can replicate itself, however, every billion replications an error occurs making a new type of replicant which then over time repeats this process. Add a dash of evolution and a billion years later you get life...
This process is called abiogenesis. If you wait another 3.5 billion years, the process becomes so complex it creates multicellular organisms like us. Whilst the traditional stepped classification (see Figure.1) is useful to scientists, as it makes digestible chunks to interpret (think binary vs analogue), in the real world the process is much more fluid. Similar to the roots of a tree branching out, although many stems are produced it is still the same super organism travelling through time, as shown below.
We are all more closely related than you think, as we are simply the structures that result from our replicating material, DNA. Much the same as how html is the code that built this website.
References
- ↑ https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/not_my_circus,_not_my_monkeys#:~:text=(colloquial)%20It's%20none%20of%20my,a%20volatile%20or%20delicate%20situation.
- ↑ Dodd, Matthew S.; Papineau, Dominic; Grenne, Tor; Slack, John F.; Rittner, Martin; Pirajno, Franco; O'Neil, Jonathan; Little, Crispin T.S. (1 March 2017). "Evidence for early life in Earth's oldest hydrothermal vent precipitates". Nature. 543 (7643): 60–64. Bibcode:2017Natur.543...60D. doi:10.1038/nature21377. PMID 28252057. Archived from the original on 8 September 2017. Retrieved 2 March 2017.
- ↑ Witzany, Guenther (2016). "Crucial steps to life: From chemical reactions to code using agents" (PDF). BioSystems. 140: 49–57. doi:10.1016/j.biosystems.2015.12.007. PMID 26723230.