Scientists at McMaster University, Canada, and The Max Plank Institute of Germany have proven that life had originated in the earth after a series of meteorite fell in ponds.
The researchers believed that the RNA, which is the basic building block of life had formed in conditions of constant wet and dry pattern which is possible in water bodies. The meteorites which reached earth before the formation of ozone layer might have brought nucleotides or the molecules which built the RNA.
According to experts, sufficient amount of nucleotide in ponds, together with changing conditions like rainfall, evaporation and drainage, might have resulted in the bonding of the molecules to form RNA in form of nutrient-rich broth. This theory, which is popularly known as the 'warm little pond', has been known from the period of Charles Darwin.
The research paper published in Proceedings of National Academy of Science said that it was proved by evidence-based calculations from fields like astrophysics, geology, chemistry, biology and other disciplines.
Ben KD Pearce of the McMaster origins institute said, "Because there are so many inputs from so many different fields, it's kind of amazing that it all hangs together. Each step led very naturally to the next. To have them all lead to a clear picture, in the end, is saying there's something right about it."
The researchers also believe that the nucleotides might have joined together to form larger nucleotide or might have spontaneously replicated themselves to form defined structures.
Nucleotides might also fold together to form DNA, a higher level of nucleotide arrangement in a course of time. The RNAs are the fundamental elements in the primary living beings while the DNAs are present in higher life forms.
Thomas Henning from the Max Plank Institute of Astrology, who has also involved in the research said, "In order to understand the origin of life, we need to understand Earth as it was billions of years ago. As our study shows, astronomy provides a vital part of the answer. The details of how our solar system formed have direct consequences from the origin of life on Earth."
The research findings could give higher acceptance for the 'warm little pond theory' over its rival 'hydrothermal vent' theory. According to the hydrothermal theory, life has formed from chemical reactions near the hot water vents in the ocean beds.
Research papers on this pond theory claim that conditions necessary for the formation of life had already existed in thousands of ponds in the earth's surface. It also tries to eliminate the 'space dust' theory of life which argues that life was formed in ponds from the nucleotide dust which came from the space.
