Reconstructing Evolution

Part I: Pre-biotic evolution

Overview
13.7

BYA 4.6 BYA 3.5 BYA 0.530 BYA 200-65 MYA 1.5 MYA

Origin of universe Formation of earth First (prokaryotic) cell Multicellular explosion Age of Dinosaurs First humans (Homo sp.)

How do we know what we know?

Spectral

analysis of galaxies. Radioactive isotope dating of rocks. Lab simulations. Inorganic geochemical record Fossil record.

Origin of Universe = 13.7 BYA

Putting

Life on Earth in context In 1920s Hubble discovered there are galaxies outside our Milky Way. Our Milky Way, an ordinary galaxy, contains about 100 billion stars. Our sun is about 1/2 out along a spiral arm.

Andromeda, our sister galaxy, is 2.5 million light-years away

Billions and billions

In

1920-50, Hubble cataloged hundreds of galaxies. Last year, the Hubble Space Telescope counted over 1500 galaxies in a 1/25-degree sliver of sky. HSTs 1987 estimate was 50 billion galaxies in the visible universe; current HST estimate is hundreds of billions! (500 billion?)

The Universe is Expanding

Hubble

discovered that all galaxies are moving away from us. How did he know? The colors of visible light make the familiar rainbow of Roy G. Biv. Red light has a longer wavelength than blue. Moving away stretches light, making it appear redder (= red shift)

Red shift
Spectral

lines in the light from stars reveals that elements like H and He are in the stars. The wavelengths of the lines are precise. Analysis of light from galaxies shows that the standard spectral lines are red shifted to longer than expected wavelengths.

Red shift (2)

Red

shift indicates the object is moving away from the observer. Compare sound waves from a passing car or train whistle as heard by a roadside listener.

Age of the Universe

Measuring

the rate of expansion enables us to calculate backwards in time to when the universe began, the Big Bang. A Brief History of Time by Stephen Hawkings describes subatomic events milliseconds after the Big Bang. Will expansion continue forever?

Formation of sun = 5 Billion YA

Based

on life cycles of stars. Our sun is middle-aged Fusion of hydrogen to helium releases energy like a hydrogen bomb When hydrogen used up, sun will collapse into white dwarf, about 6 BY from now.

Age of the Earth

Cant

be measured directly because all surface rocks formed relatively recently; the original surface rocks have been eroded away, replaced, or covered by lava. Can determine age of solar system (and so Earth) by aging moon rocks & meteorites.

Radioisotope dating
Radioactive

isotopes like Uranium-238 decay into Lead-207 very slowly. Half-life= length of time needed for half of the radio isotope present to decay.

Radio isotope dating (2)

Highly

accurate clock; ratio => age. Half-life is constant. It is a property of the nucleus of the atom and so is not affected by the environment -- not pressure, not temperature, not chemical reactions.

Radio isotope dating (3)

Zircon

crystals, when formed inside volcanoes, take up uranium but not lead. When analyze zircon crystals, the ratio of Uranium (U-238) to Lead (Pb-207) indicates how long ago zircon was formed. For example, if ratio of U:Pb is 50:50, the rock of 4.5 BY old; if 25:75 its 9 BY old.

Radio isotope dating (4)

Other

radioactive elements have different half-lives with different useful ranges. Potassium 40 is 1.3 BY, useful to 100 MY. Uranium-235 is 704 MY with a useful range up to 100 million years. Carbon-14 = 5730 Y, useful 0-60,000 years.

How did first cell arise?

Many

hypotheses, many missing links -trying to piece together a story. Laboratory simulations of ancient atmosphere show organic molecules like amino acids can form spontaneously Miller-Urey chamber: CH4, NH3, H2O, H2 plus heat and spark (lightning)

Origin of cell membranes

One

hypothesis is based on lab observation that cell-like microspheres can be formed by cooling solutions of protenoids -polypeptides created abiotically from amino acids polymerized on hot surfaces. These grow and divide spontaneously.

RNA = first genetic material

Short

segments of RNA (8-12 nucleotides long) form spontaneously on clay (mudflat). RNA can splice and reunite itself, without enzymes present. RNA (mRNA, tRNA, ribosomes) can make proteins (enzymes).

Origin of DNA
RNA

can make DNA if the enzyme reverse transcriptase is present. RNA might have first made reverse transcriptase, then made DNA. HIV virus enters human cells as RNA, then uses reverse transcriptase to make DNA.

First Prokaryotic Cells

3.5

BY old fossils of bacteria and cyanobacteria, in shape of tiny filaments, found in Australia.

Many Gaps
Currently,

there are MANY gaps in our understanding of the origin of the first cell. God of Thunder? Thunder is produced when lightning heats air, causing a rapid expansion of air, producing a sound wave. God of the gaps as a basis of faith.

Reconstructing Evolution
End of Part I