AP BIOLOGY

Detailed explanation-1: -Urey performed an experiment to describe the origin of life on earth. They were of the idea that the early earth’s atmosphere was able to produce amino acids from inorganic matter.

Detailed explanation-2: -One week later Miller and Urey found that simple organic molecules, including amino acids (the building blocks of proteins), had formed under the simulated conditions of early Earth.

Detailed explanation-3: -In 1953, chemists Harold Urey and Stanley Miller performed a landmark experiment intended to mimic the primordial conditions that created the first amino acids, by exposing a mix of gases to a lightning-like electrical discharge. Five years later, in 1958, Miller performed another variation on this experiment.

Detailed explanation-4: -In a 1996 interview, Stanley Miller recollected his lifelong experiments following his original work and stated: “Just turning on the spark in a basic pre-biotic experiment will yield 11 out of 20 amino acids."

Detailed explanation-5: -But to refresh your memory: in 1952 Stanley Miller and Harold Urey simulated the conditions of early Earth by sealing water, methane, ammonia and hydrogen in a glass flask. Then they applied electrical sparks to the mixture. Miraculously, amino acids came into existence amid the roiling mixture.