Download Biochemical Evolutdion

Biochemical Evolution
Prebiotic World

What had to happen before life could exist
on earth?
 What kinds of molecules may have been
present in earth’s early atmosphere?
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–
–
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Methane
Ammonia
Hydrogen
Water
Biochemical Macromolecules

What did Miller and
Urey do to find out
whether complex
organic molecules
could have formed
spontaneously?
Biological Macromolecules
Products of Urey-Miller Experiment
Biological Macromolecules
Evolution

What characterizes evolving systems?
– Ability to replicate
– Variation
– Competition
Molecular Evolution

How did Spiegelman demonstrate molecular
evolution in a test tube?
Molecular Evolution

What are ribozymes
and what have they
contributed to our
ideas about evolution?
Molecular Evolution

How can amino acids play both synthetic and
catalytic roles?
Molecular Evolution

How does the variation needed for evolution come
to exist?
Molecular Evolution

What advantages does DNA have over RNA
as the genetic storehouse?
– 2-deoxyribose not suscetible to hydrolytic
cleavage
– Methyl group of thymine contributes to DNA
repair
Energy & Living Systems

What is the role of ATP and how is it made in
cells?
Energy & Living Systems

What is the nature of the cell membrane and how
does it affect the contents of the cell?
Energy & Living Cells

How did evolving
cells deal with the
harmful effects of
osmosis?
Energy & Living Cells

How are proton
gradients used inside
of cells?
Energy & Living Cells

What biochemical process evolved first,
photosynthesis or respiration?
Cells Respond to
Environmental Change

In what ways do cells sense changes in their
environment?

What enables cells to respond?
Cells Respond to
Environmental Change

What enables cells to
move?
Cells Respond to
Environmenmtal change

Under what conditions do individual cells form
colonies?
Cells Respond to
Environmental Change

What can we learn by
studying simple
organisms like the
worm C. elegans?