The first form of life came from pre-existing non-living organic molecules was proposed by:
Answer & explanation
Correct answer: option 4
The correct answer is Option (4) → Oparin and Haldane
(1) Louis Pasteur — Incorrect. Pasteur showed, with sterilised flasks, that life comes only from pre-existing life. This ended the theory of spontaneous generation. It did not explain how the very first life began.
(2) S.L.Miller — Incorrect. In 1953 Miller passed an electric discharge through CH4, H2, NH3 and water vapour in a closed flask and got amino acids. This tested the idea in a laboratory. He did not propose it.
(3) Charles Darwin — Incorrect. Darwin proposed natural selection and descent with modification. He did not propose that life began from non-living organic molecules.
(4) Oparin and Haldane — Correct. Oparin of Russia and Haldane of England proposed that the first form of life came from pre-existing non-living organic molecules. They said that chemical evolution, the formation of diverse organic molecules from inorganic ones, came before life.
Note: A similar question was also asked in CUET (UG) 2024 on 29-05-2024 (Slot 1).
NCERT Extract:
Origin of Life – …
