Origin of Life on Earth

AP Biology· difficulty 3/5

The Miller-Urey experiment showed that

  • A

    Simple organic molecules (like amino acids) can form from inorganic precursors under early-Earth-like conditions

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  • B

    Photosynthesis arose first because oxygen was abundant on the primitive Earth long before biological molecules

  • C

    Fully functional living cells can be assembled directly from a sterile mixture of inorganic gases and water

  • D

    DNA strands form spontaneously from atmospheric methane in the absence of any nucleotides or template molecules

Explanation

The 1953 experiment used a sparked atmosphere of CH₄, NH₃, H₂, H₂O and produced amino acids — supporting prebiotic chemistry origins of life.

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