AP BIOLOGY

Detailed explanation-1: -First synthesized in 1963 from simple minerals and basic organics while exposed to sunlight, it is still reported to have some metabolic capabilities, the presence of semipermeable membrane, amino acids, phospholipids, carbohydrates and RNA-like molecules.

Detailed explanation-2: -These membranous droplets, called protocells, were presumed to be the first cells. Modern scientists believe, however, that protocells do not carry any genetic information and lack the internal organization of cells. Thus the protocell perspective is not widely accepted.

Detailed explanation-3: -The simple protocells that may have enabled life to develop four billion years ago consist of only genetic material surrounded by a fatty acid membrane. This pared down version of a cell-which has not yet been completely recreated in a laboratory-is thought to have been able to grow, replicate, and evolve.

Detailed explanation-4: -The first structure to arise in the prebiotic world that could be termed a protocell was the coacervate. This is a spherical membraneless microdroplet that can spontaneously arise from weak organic solutions.

Detailed explanation-5: -The discovery provides new insight into how RNA and membranes could have come together to form protocells – precursors to life – 4 billion years ago on Earth. RNA is assumed to be the ancestral nucleic acid in early cells because it can store genetic information and also catalyse chemical reactions.