1.5 Revision notes
THE ORIGIN OF CELLS
Cells can only arise from other cells
Pasteur: Biogenesis / Spontaneous generation
- Cell is complex structure, no natural mechanism is able to produce
- Increasing cell population requires cell division
- Viruses are produced from simpler subunits, but they do not consist of cells, can only be
produced in host cells
The first cells must have arisen from non-living material
Abiogenesis
- Production of carbon compounds (amino acids & sugars)
- Assembly of carbon compounds into polymers
o Polymers developed ability to replicate
o Enabling inheritance (through DNA)
- Formation of membrane
o Phospholipids naturally form membrane bilayer
o Allowed different internal chemistry to form
THE ORIGIN OF CELLS
Cells can only arise from other cells
Pasteur: Biogenesis / Spontaneous generation
- Cell is complex structure, no natural mechanism is able to produce
- Increasing cell population requires cell division
- Viruses are produced from simpler subunits, but they do not consist of cells, can only be
produced in host cells
The first cells must have arisen from non-living material
Abiogenesis
- Production of carbon compounds (amino acids & sugars)
- Assembly of carbon compounds into polymers
o Polymers developed ability to replicate
o Enabling inheritance (through DNA)
- Formation of membrane
o Phospholipids naturally form membrane bilayer
o Allowed different internal chemistry to form
