1. What is life? Why are viruses not considered alive by some people? What other things can you think of that are not alive but might be almost alive?

Biology Today and Tomorrow without Physiology (MindTap Course List)
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Author:Cecie Starr, Christine Evers, Lisa Starr
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Chapter10: Biotechnology
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1. What is life? Why are viruses not considered alive by some people? What other things can
you think of that are not alive but might be almost alive?
2. What is the last universal common ancestor (LUCA), and what does that mean? What is a
phylogenetic event horizon?
3. Why does there appear to have been only one origin of life on earth? Why are there not
multiple origins? Why is life not originating still?
4. What is the origin (or origins) f viruses? Is there evidence that viruses have multiple origins?
5. What were conditions like on Earth when life first began? Be thorough here. What was the
prebiotic soup like? How might these conditions have varied across the planet? Do we expect
that these conditions might be replicated on other planets?
6. What do meteorites tell us about potential life on other planets and whether life on Earth
was influenced by these meteorites?
7. How might mineral clay surfaces have influenced the origin of life?
8. Why do we think that LUCA was RNA-based rather than DNA?
9. What is the potential importance of horizontal gene transfer in the evolution of early life?
10. What functions are most critical for cells? What do minimal gene sets tell us about early
life? Describe efforts to determine minimal gene sets and cell functions. How do they compare
among species?
1
Transcribed Image Text:1. What is life? Why are viruses not considered alive by some people? What other things can you think of that are not alive but might be almost alive? 2. What is the last universal common ancestor (LUCA), and what does that mean? What is a phylogenetic event horizon? 3. Why does there appear to have been only one origin of life on earth? Why are there not multiple origins? Why is life not originating still? 4. What is the origin (or origins) f viruses? Is there evidence that viruses have multiple origins? 5. What were conditions like on Earth when life first began? Be thorough here. What was the prebiotic soup like? How might these conditions have varied across the planet? Do we expect that these conditions might be replicated on other planets? 6. What do meteorites tell us about potential life on other planets and whether life on Earth was influenced by these meteorites? 7. How might mineral clay surfaces have influenced the origin of life? 8. Why do we think that LUCA was RNA-based rather than DNA? 9. What is the potential importance of horizontal gene transfer in the evolution of early life? 10. What functions are most critical for cells? What do minimal gene sets tell us about early life? Describe efforts to determine minimal gene sets and cell functions. How do they compare among species? 1
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