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The transition from non-life to life has never been observed experimentally, but many proposals have been made for different stages of the process. The study of abiogenesis aims to determine how pre-life chemical reactions gave rise to life under conditions strikingly different from those on Earth today.
PSTVd was the first pathogen of a eukaryotic organism for which the complete molecular structure has been established. Over thirty plant diseases have since been identified as viroid-, not virus-caused, as had been assumed. [88] [93] Four additional viroids or viroid-like RNA particles were discovered between 2009 and 2015. [86]
Whether these are considered alive has been a matter of debate; viruses lack characteristics of life such as cell membranes, metabolism and the ability to grow or respond to their environments. Viruses have been classed into "species" based on their genetics, but many aspects of such a classification remain controversial. [124]
It has been proposed that life began in hydrothermal vents in the deep sea, but a 2012 study suggests that hot springs have the ideal characteristics for the origin of life. [44] The conclusion is based mainly on the chemistry of modern cells, where the cytoplasm is rich in potassium, zinc, manganese, and phosphate ions, not widespread in ...
Non-cellular life, also known as acellular life, is life that exists without a cellular structure for at least part of its life cycle. [1] Historically, most definitions of life postulated that an organism must be composed of one or more cells, [2] but, for some, this is no longer considered necessary, and modern criteria allow for forms of life based on other structural arrangements.
The division between prokaryotes and eukaryotes has been considered the most important distinction or difference among organisms. The distinction is that eukaryotic cells have a "true" nucleus containing their DNA , whereas prokaryotic cells do not have a nucleus.
Although alternative chemical paths to life have been proposed, [8] and RNA-based life may not have been the first life to exist, [3] [9] the RNA world hypothesis seems to be the most favored abiogenesis paradigm. However, even proponents agree that there is still not conclusive evidence to completely falsify other paradigms and hypotheses.
The eukaryotic cell seems to have evolved from a symbiotic community of prokaryotic cells. DNA-bearing organelles like mitochondria and chloroplasts are remnants of ancient symbiotic oxygen-breathing bacteria and cyanobacteria, respectively, where at least part of the rest of the cell may have been derived from an ancestral archaean prokaryote ...