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Charles Darwin and the Origin of Life

When Charles Darwin published The Origin of Species 150 years ago he consciously avoided discussing the origin of life. However, analysis of some other texts written by Darwin, and of the correspondence he exchanged with friends and colleagues demonstrates that he took for granted the possibility of...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores principales: Peretó, Juli, Bada, Jeffrey L., Lazcano, Antonio
Formato: Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: Springer Netherlands 2009
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2745620/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19633921
http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s11084-009-9172-7
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author Peretó, Juli
Bada, Jeffrey L.
Lazcano, Antonio
author_facet Peretó, Juli
Bada, Jeffrey L.
Lazcano, Antonio
author_sort Peretó, Juli
collection PubMed
description When Charles Darwin published The Origin of Species 150 years ago he consciously avoided discussing the origin of life. However, analysis of some other texts written by Darwin, and of the correspondence he exchanged with friends and colleagues demonstrates that he took for granted the possibility of a natural emergence of the first life forms. As shown by notes from the pages he excised from his private notebooks, as early as 1837 Darwin was convinced that “the intimate relation of Life with laws of chemical combination, & the universality of latter render spontaneous generation not improbable”. Like many of his contemporaries, Darwin rejected the idea that putrefaction of preexisting organic compounds could lead to the appearance of organisms. Although he favored the possibility that life could appear by natural processes from simple inorganic compounds, his reluctance to discuss the issue resulted from his recognition that at the time it was possible to undertake the experimental study of the emergence of life.
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spelling pubmed-27456202009-09-17 Charles Darwin and the Origin of Life Peretó, Juli Bada, Jeffrey L. Lazcano, Antonio Orig Life Evol Biosph Special Invited Paper When Charles Darwin published The Origin of Species 150 years ago he consciously avoided discussing the origin of life. However, analysis of some other texts written by Darwin, and of the correspondence he exchanged with friends and colleagues demonstrates that he took for granted the possibility of a natural emergence of the first life forms. As shown by notes from the pages he excised from his private notebooks, as early as 1837 Darwin was convinced that “the intimate relation of Life with laws of chemical combination, & the universality of latter render spontaneous generation not improbable”. Like many of his contemporaries, Darwin rejected the idea that putrefaction of preexisting organic compounds could lead to the appearance of organisms. Although he favored the possibility that life could appear by natural processes from simple inorganic compounds, his reluctance to discuss the issue resulted from his recognition that at the time it was possible to undertake the experimental study of the emergence of life. Springer Netherlands 2009-07-25 2009-10 /pmc/articles/PMC2745620/ /pubmed/19633921 http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s11084-009-9172-7 Text en © The Author(s) 2009
spellingShingle Special Invited Paper
Peretó, Juli
Bada, Jeffrey L.
Lazcano, Antonio
Charles Darwin and the Origin of Life
title Charles Darwin and the Origin of Life
title_full Charles Darwin and the Origin of Life
title_fullStr Charles Darwin and the Origin of Life
title_full_unstemmed Charles Darwin and the Origin of Life
title_short Charles Darwin and the Origin of Life
title_sort charles darwin and the origin of life
topic Special Invited Paper
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2745620/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19633921
http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s11084-009-9172-7
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