Question

Summarise Miller's simulation experiment for organic synthesis. Comment on its efficacy.

Answer 1

In 1953, Stanley Miller and Harold Urey evacuated and sterilised an apparatus, then introduced methane, ammonia and hydrogen, with water vapour. They boiled water to produce vapour and used electric sparks to simulate lightning. After the apparatus ran continuously for about a week, they found organic products including amino acids and other molecules. The experiment showed that some organic building blocks could form abiotically under the specific conditions tested, supporting the chemical-evolution hypothesis. It did not produce life, and the exact composition of the early atmosphere remains under scientific discussion.

The experiment demonstrated plausible abiotic organic synthesis, not the complete origin of life.