Biochemistry

The chemistry

of life

How did life

originate?

chaos

sky sea

earth Gaia

Uranus

Hundred handed onesCyclopesTitans …

Cronus

Zeus

Poseidon

Hades Olympians

Atlas

Nike

Prometheus

Epimetheus---- Pandora

Heracles

What is life ?

•C

om

ple

x a

nd d

ynam

ic

•Organized and self-sustaining

•In

form

ati

on-b

ase

d

• Adaptable and evolving

• Domain: EUCARYA

– Kingdom: ANIMALIA• Phylum: CHORDATA–Subphylum: VERTEBRATA»Class: MAMMALIA •Order: PRIMATE

Family: HOMINIDAE•Genus: HOMO

Species: SAPIENS

Evolution is the idea that all living things arose from a single common

ancestor in the distant past and that life continues to diversify today as new species appear. Evolution explains why

we can classify organisms into different groups (because some

organisms are more closely related than others). Evolution explains why

the cells of all organisms use the same kind of biochemical machinery

(because all life shares a common ancestor).* Evolution is both a theory and a fact

“What is true of E. coli is true of the elephant”Jacques Monod

Can we create life?

1953

Abiogenesis

Can we study life?

Metabolism

•Anabolism •Catabolism

Guillotine