Essential Concepts in Evolutionary Biology

Fundamental Concepts in the Origins of Life

• Biogenesis: The principle that states all living things come from other living things.
• Spontaneous Generation: The theory that living things could arise from non-living matter.
• Radiometric Dating: A technique used to establish the age of materials.
• Isotope: Atoms of the same element with different mass numbers.
• Mass Number: The total number of protons and neutrons in the nucleus.
• Radioactive Decay: The process where a nucleus releases particles, radiant energy, or both.
• Radioactive Isotope: An isotope that undergoes radioactive decay.
• Half-life: The length of time an assembly of an isotope takes to decay by one-half.
• Microsphere: A spherical structure composed of protein molecules.
• Coacervate: A collection of droplets composed of lipids, amino acids, and sugars.
• Ribozyme: An RNA molecule that acts as an enzyme.
• Archaea: Unicellular organisms that can live in extremely harsh environments.
• Chemosynthesis: The formation of organic molecules from CO2 and the oxidation of inorganic substances.
• Cyanobacteria: A group of photosynthetic unicellular prokaryotes.
• Ozone: A molecule made of three atoms of oxygen.
• Endosymbiosis: The theory that proposes eukaryotes evolved from prokaryotes that were engulfed.