Cheltenham HS

 
 ŗLife and Its Beginnings˛
 
 Life is extremely hard to explain. It can be defined 
 scientifically or philosophically. Some people can 
 describe it as the condition of being alive and others 
 describe it as daily life. Life is everything living 
 thing from the tiniest organism to the most complex animal. 
 These organisms try their best to reproduce and overcome 
 the obstacles of life to survive and preserve their 
 species. 
 
 Life is many different aspects of daily living. It 
 can also consist of the events that influence how you 
 live. Anything that happens can change your ideas of 
 the world. Life can pass you by in a second. One 
 minute, when you're not looking, you can miss all the 
 opportunities that give you a chance to reach your goals. 
 If you try to plan your life to the minute, then you'll 
 miss everything that is spontaneous and exciting. Life 
 is what happens while you're busy making plans.
 
 I believe that life started through a process of 
 chemical evolution. When the right chemicals and 
 conditions were present in the ancient earth, amino acids 
 were produced, perhaps in the oceans. Once amino acids 
 were produced, they could have formed simple protiens and 
 began life. Stanley Miller and Harold Ureašs test 
 of Ocarinašs heterotroph hypothesis supported the 
 theory of chemical evolution. The experiment simulated 
 the atmosphere of early earth and under those conditions, 
 the experiment produced amino acids in the water. 
 
 These amino acids could also have evolved into a 
 simple molecule of RNA. Gerald Joyce and other scientists 
 at the Science Research Institute have approximated the 
 earliest living organism and found it to be a simpler model 
 of RNA. This suggests that life could have evolved 
 into RNA, but still leaves many questions. This essay 
 states my opinion, but there are many others and no 
 opinion is likely to be agreed upon any time soon.