Question

Abiogenesis refers to how living organisms arose from inanimate matter. Place the sentences in order according to how life on Earth may have arisen from terrestrial origins. Only four sentences will be used.
(A) Precursors Simple inorganic compounds were exposed to energy in the form of light, heat, and lightning
(B) Larger organic molecules became enclosed within a membrane-like structure
(C) Organic molecules self-assembled into more complex molecules and polymers.
(D) Simple organic molecules, such as amino acids, formed from precursors exposed to energy
(E) Meteorites that impacted Earth-4 billion years ago contained traces of 18 amino acids.

Answer 1

Answer:

(A) -> (D) -> (C) -> (B)

Explanation:

First off, given that the problem requires us to explain how life on Earth may have arisen from terrestrial origins, we can discard sentence (E), as impacts from meteorites would count as extraterrestrial origins.

Then it's just a matter of describing the steps by which simple compounds turned into more and more complex structures, that would in turn lead to the origin of life.

Simple inorganic compounds (such as CO₂, or NH₃) were exposed to energy, because of that they formed simple organic molecules, like carbohydrates or amino acids.

These organic molecules, in turn, would self-assemble into more complex structures, such as proteins.

Lastly, there's the phenomenon of Compartmentalization, where large organic structures became enclosed within a membrane-like structure, separating them from the 'outside' medium and thus creating primitive cells.