Whenever we talk about the origin of life, most people think of Darwin’s theory of evolution. In reality, Darwin’s theory isn’t about the origin of life, but rather how life might have evolved after its origin. It lacks speculative force. In fact, Nobel Prize-winning scientist Paul Nye writes in the introduction to his book What Is Life? that science doesn’t even have a definitive answer to the question of what life is.
In this post we’ll discuss modern science’s stance on the origin of life. Encyclopedia Britannica defines life as all matter that grows, responds, transforms energy, and reproduces. Based on this definition, matter is divided into two types: living matter and non-living matter. We can consider all the living matter or life around us as life.
You see, all other living things come from the reproduction of matter. That is, every life form on Earth today is born from existing life. However, modern scientists believe that the first life must have originated from non-living matter. Therefore, all the experiments conducted from the 19th century onward to discover the origin of life were aimed at converting non-living matter, i.e., chemicals, into living matter, i.e., life.
In 1952, University of Chicago graduate student Stanley Miller and Nobel Laureate Harold Urey conducted a famous experiment. They hypothesized that when Earth formed, ammonia, methane, and water vapor would have been present in large quantities on its surface, and lightning would have been striking it. Miller and Urey simulated this situation in the laboratory by injecting gases and water vapor into a closed system. A continuous electric current was applied, and amino acids began to form in the glass container.
Amino acids are the organic chemicals that make up proteins. All proteins found in nature today are composed of 22 amino acids. Therefore, the Miller–Urey experiment was considered a breakthrough for the scientific community. The next challenge was to understand how proteins form from amino acids.
RNA is responsible for synthesizing amino acids into proteins in all living organisms. In 2009, Cambridge University scientist John Sutherland discovered the chemical pathway for the formation of nucleotides from hydrogen cyanide. These nucleotides are the building blocks of RNA. So now, science has created two important components of living matter protein and RNA in the laboratory.
However, a fully functional living cell has yet to be created. Creating amino acids and nucleotides in the laboratory is like creating a nut and bolt in the journey of building a satellite. Given the intricate complexity of the structure and functions of even the most basic living cell, the scientific community has largely sidelined the idea of creating living cells purely from chemicals.
For the past two decades, scientists have focused more on replicating processes occurring within cells rather than attempting to create cells from scratch. Often, these successes are misunderstood and portrayed as the creation of life itself. For example, in 2022, a University of Tokyo researcher replicated certain life-like processes in the lab, which some media outlets described as “life recreated in the lab.”
Similarly, in 2023, when a Georgia Tech scientist combined single living cells into multicellular structures in a laboratory, some reports suggested that life had finally been created. However, in reality, these experiments involved manipulating existing living matter, not creating life from non-living chemicals.
Science generally holds the view that life is living matter and that living matter originated from non-living matter. However, science has not yet been able to clearly explain when, why, and how this transition occurred.
Thus, modern science continues to explore the origin of life, but many fundamental questions remain unanswered. The origin of life remains one of the greatest unsolved mysteries in science.
All the Symptoms of Life
Both science and modern science agree on the law of conservation of energy. Because of this principle, it is stated in the Vedas that, just like any other form of energy, life is also an energy that can be created from the Earth and enter new matter.
It is obvious that the Earth itself was created at some point. To understand how the Earth was created, be sure to watch our previous video. If you have already watched that video, then the next important question is:
After the formation of the Earth, how did the first life come to Earth?
The answer to this question is given in the 32nd and 33rd verses of the fifth chapter of the second Skanda of the Srimad Bhagavatam. According to these verses, the energy of Lord Sri Maha Vishnu creates different organs from matter, and these organs further combine to form different bodies.
This explanation is very similar to what modern science describes. Modern science says that from inorganic matter, organic matter was formed. From organic matter, the different components of living bodies were formed, and from these components, simple bodies gradually took shape.
However, according to the Vedic explanation, this process did not occur automatically or by chance, but through the energy of Lord Vishnu. Lord Vishnu places different living entities into those bodies, and this is how life begins.
The same concept is also stated by Lord Krishna in the third verse of Chapter 14 of the Bhagavad Gita:
“Mam Yo Nir Mahad Brahma Ta Garbham Dada My Ham Sambhav Sarva Bhuta Naam Tato Bhavati Bharata.”
This verse explains that Lord Krishna places all living entities, made of Sat-Chit-Anand energy, into different material bodies.
Regarding life, it is very important to understand that life is an energy. When this energy enters bodies made of dead matter, it converts them into living entities.
Thus, modern science and Vedic science present two different perspectives on the origin of life.
You can also read; What happens after death? Consciousness and Near-Death Experiences
FAQs
FAQ 1: What is the origin of life?
The origin of life refers to how the first living organisms appeared on Earth from non-living matter, a process that science has not yet fully explained.
FAQ 2: Does evolution explain how life began?
No. Evolution explains how life evolves after it already exists. It does not explain how the first life originated.
FAQ 3: What was the Miller–Urey experiment?
The Miller–Urey experiment showed that amino acids could form under simulated early Earth conditions, but it did not create life.
FAQ 4: Has science ever created life in a laboratory?
No. Scientists have created biological components and replicated life-like processes, but a fully living cell has never been created from non-living matter.
FAQ 5: What is abiogenesis?
Abiogenesis is the theory that life arose naturally from non-living chemicals, but it remains unproven.
FAQ 6: Why is the origin of life still a mystery?
Because scientists cannot yet explain the precise conditions, mechanisms, and reasons that caused non-living matter to become living.
