Synonyms
Definition
The primordial soup is a generic term that describes the aqueous solution of organic compounds that accumulated in primitive water bodies of the early Earth as a result of endogenous abiotic syntheses and the extraterrestrial delivery by cometary and meteoritic collisions, and from which some have assumed that the first living systems evolved.
Overview
The term “primordial soup” and its synonyms are linked to the proposal of the heterotrophic theory of the origin of life, which was suggested independently in the 1920s by Alexander I. Oparin, John B. S. Haldane, and few others. Based on the simplicity and ubiquity of fermentative reactions, Oparin and Haldane proposed that the first organisms must have been heterotrophic bacteria that could not make their own food but obtained organic material present in the primitive milieu. In order to support his proposal, Oparin appealed not only to astronomical observations that had shown that...
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References and Further Reading
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Lazcano, A. (2015). Primordial Soup. In: Gargaud, M., et al. Encyclopedia of Astrobiology. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-662-44185-5_1275
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