Miller-Urey experiment

Miller-Urey experiment

1. In the 1950’s, biochemists Stanley Miller and Harold Urey, conducted an experiment.
2. It demonstrated that several organic compounds could be formed spontaneously by simulating the conditions of Earth’s early atmosphere.
3. It was a chemical experiment that simulated the conditions thought at the time to be present on the early Earth and tested the chemical origin of life under those conditions.
4. The two scientists sealed a mixture of water, ammonia, methane and hydrogen in a sterile flask.
5. The mixture was heated to evaporate water to produce water vapour.
6. Electric sparks were passed through the mixture of water vapour and gases, simulating lightning.
7. After a week, contents were analysed. Amino acids, the building blocks for proteins, were found.