Chapter 4 - Nucleic Acids and the Origin of Life - 4.2 - The Small Molecules of Life Originated on Primitive Earth - 4.2 Recap - Learning Outcomes - Page 75: 3

The Miller-Urey experiment sought to create life by replicating the environment of early earth. By setting up an apparatus filled with hydrogen, ammonia, and methane, subjecting these compounds to heat and condensation, and allowing an electric current to run through the system, the scientists identified organic molecules that formed from the inorganic reactants. This experiment proved that the first steps of generating life could have been taken when organic molecules were synthesized during primitive earth, including the 5 nitrogenous bases, 20 amino acids and certain fatty acids. A limitation of this experiment is that it suggested that life was not likely to have developed under the appropriate circumstances spontaneously.

The Miller-Urey experiment sought to create life by replicating the environment of early earth. By setting up an apparatus filled with hydrogen, ammonia, and methane, subjecting these compounds to heat and condensation, and allowing an electric current to run through the system, the scientists identified organic molecules that formed from the inorganic reactants. This experiment proved that the first steps of generating life could have been taken when organic molecules were synthesized during primitive earth, including the 5 nitrogenous bases, 20 amino acids and certain fatty acids. A limitation of this experiment is that it suggested that life was not likely to have developed under the appropriate circumstances spontaneously.