Chapter 14, Problem 28A

Summary Introduction

To analyze:

The sequence of events which led from lifeless earth to the presence of eukaryotic cells.

Introduction:

The early earth was lifeless for millions of years. The crust of the earth has to cool down and solidify before life could exist over here, as there was too much heat for any organism to survive at that time. The atmosphere too contained very less amount of oxygen and harmful gases were more in amount.

Explanation of Solution

A sequence of events that took place from lifeless earth to the prokaryotic cells is that firstly there was the origin of simple organic molecules from inorganic compounds that initiated the origin of life on earth. It was then followed by the formation of macromolecules and these macromolecular assemblies resulted in the evolution of cells. Prokaryotes initially lived in symbiotic association with other organisms and thus, results in the evolution of eukaryotic cells.

Conclusion

This concludes that the origin of life was from the inorganic compounds which in turn form organic compounds. This then formed macromolecules which in association with each other resulted in the formation of cells. This is how the prokaryotic cell arose, which in turn resulted in the evolution of the eukaryotic cell.