BIOCHEMISTRY // The origin of life beyond divinityp

The idea of writing this type of content is attributed to the fact that I am a University Professor in the area of Biochemistry for students of Veterinary Medicine, where different perspectives on human evolution are addressed. However, it was my 5 year old daughter's questions that made me curious and uncertain to write about the subject.

It is a rather broad question, which at first made me hesitate because I was not sure whether to answer as a lover of science or as a believer, likewise I share different positions in the body of this work that will allow you to contrast each of them.

According to the above, the origin of life, since we have knowledge has been a much debated topic that in a way, we can assume as delicate and complicated to understand, due to the set of theories that have been appearing and that try to explain the creation of the world and all living species in it.

Among these positions, the one referring to spontaneous generation, which was based on observation, stands out. which was based on observation, the same held the premise that life originated spontaneously from organic or inorganic matter. For its part, the big bang theory assumes that the universe as a whole was created through a big explosion, in turn Darwin in his postulates framed the evolutionary process of man as a descendant of a less organized form, likewise we can not leave aside the religious theory where we have learned that we are originated by a divine being creator of heaven and earth.

Consequently, there are different postures that we can assume in reference to this subject, therefore we will approach some perspectives and it is the criterion of each of the users readers of these lines of writing to assume their own belief.

Throughout history we have encountered a set of scientific positions that address the origin of life beyond the religious, of which we have already mentioned some in the previous section, however the idea of this publication is not to explain each of the theories since as theories they have their postulates. On the contrary, the idea is to present technical foundations that allow us to understand the subject under discussion.

Therefore, it is to be expected that each of the contributions we have so far are nothing more than ideas or mechanisms that man has devised to credibly explain the origin of our existence, so that beyond these ideas and the data we have been able to collect with the passing of time, it is difficult to assume an unobjectionable truth about our origins.

An example of this can be found in the basis proposed in the studies conducted by Thomas Cech, which have provided a new line of research on the dubious future of human beings and their existence on the planet. His discoveries are supported by the presence of a type of RNA capable of fulfilling enzymatic functions (Ribosymes), a use that was considered exclusive to proteins.

With the appearance of this type of substance, the theory proposed by Cech acquires an important boom, since it is assumed that the primitive ribosomes were responsible for self-synthesizing the set of substances that allow shaping the life we know today, since at laboratory level under strict situations, these substances have managed to replicate other pre-existing RNA. In Walter Gilbert's opinion, "primitively the world was dominated by RNA" and under strict chemical conditions, they adapted and generated more complex species.

Therefore, assuming an ideal about human evolution depends on the beliefs we may have about them, understanding that the term belief refers to the link between an attribute and an object with a certain level of probability, which is assumed as a subjective initial condition that explains a set of apparently isolated behaviors. [1]

In such a way reader friends that beyond the contributions, we still do not have clear our beginnings on the planet and it is a matter of the position that as an individual we can assume on the subject. That is why I invite you to leave your impressions on the subject in the comments session, I will be aware of each conceptual contribution you can make.

[1] Artigas M y Turbón D. (2007). The origin of man. Science, Philosophy and Religion. Eunsa, Pamplona. Article: Online Access

[2] Silva et al. (2017). Beliefs towards the origin of life and human nature: a comparison between academics from public and private universities. Academic Integration in Psychology. Volume 5. Number 13. 2017. ISSN: 2007-5588. Article: Online Access