Reference no: EM133650857

Question 

After reviewing various hypotheses regarding the origin of life, the hypothesis that I found most convincing involved hydrothermal vents and life originating from the deep abyss. Because hydrothermal vents are known to be hotspots for organic molecules where high temperatures and pressures can provide an ideal environment for creating chemical reactions, deep-sea vents are a logical location for the origin of life. As a unique environment capable of supplying the various chemicals required to form complex organic molecules, facilitate their formation, and protect it from harsh exposures of UV radiation, these vents can arguably be considered a key location of the origin of life. To further support this hypothesis, the Last Universal Common Ancestor (LUCA) of life, which scientists infer as the most recent common ancestor of all currently living organisms based on shared genetic and biochemical characteristics, would have thrived in hydrothermal vents where a hot, oxygen-free, and chemical gradient rich environment was present.